Heart of Metal, Beats Like Gold
by I am a Ridaa
Summary: Is there a Kuno Ichi in town? Ehh, maybe? Randy and Howard aren't sure whether to trust this "girl" or not. Behind Kuno's blank expression lies many secrets, but maybe those songs she oh-so-dearly sings can be a bit of a distraction. Still, the Ninja must unlock the many mysteries this new girl beholds. ((This fic needs love and favorites u-u)) ((see the playlist I made on Youtube!
1. The Kuno Ichi

**Chapter 1: The "Kuno Ichi"**

* * *

 **Hey wazzup everyone! My name is Ridaa, as some of you may know, and I'm new to the fandom! I have just finished watching all the RC9GN episodes last week, and I have been so inspired since. I posted a poll if I should start writing this fandom or not, but what the heck. Was too excited xP I wrote this fanfiction because a) I love the show, b) I love Fowlham and my new OC, c) The plot for this story seemed like a pretty good idea in my head :)**

 **I'm also writing this because I really have nothing else to look forward to. It appears that my currently ongoing fanfics are not getting good stats. I** _ **really**_ **wanted to work on this fic already and see how many people might read and like it. I hear some people are getting "pretty tired of the Kunoichi stories". Well, I'm gonna do something different. This whole story is basically wrapped around my OC who's literally named Kuno Ichi. But that's all I'm gonna say for now! Oh, and I don't update regularly and I suck at first chapters :/**

 **But still, I hope you guys will stick around ;) I have big big plans for this story, and I hope you guys'll read on!**

* * *

It was just another day of school. Randy Cunningham and Howard Weinerman were walking their way to Norrisville High as usual. That morning, they seemed especially excited and pumped up as they talked about one certain thing.

"Come on, Cunningham!" Howard protested at his best friend. "I'm telling you, this new concert move will be the honking _cheese!"_

"And for the last time, Howard," Randy sighed. "It's not a concert move if all you're doing is taking your shirt off in the middle of a drum solo."

"But all the rock stars do it!"

"We're not rock stars! Yet! Besides, how will you be able to do that while drumming?"

"I have my ways, Cunningham. Don't question the Weinerman ways." Randy decided to stay silent at that. "I still can't believe you got Principal Slimotvitz to let us perform our _very own_ concert For the whole school!"

The purple-haired teen grinned. "Better believe it, Big H! 30 Seconds to Math is so gonna rock the school! And it won't be like last time either! No more interruptions. Can't believe I just had to do one thing for this to happen."

* * *

 _~Flashback~_

"Ninja slice!"

 _Randy, as the Ninja, attempted to slice through McFist's latest robot with his katana. But the giant toy-like bot was completely indestructible. It just continued to run rampage through the school, smashing through the building, having everyone run around screaming._

 _But the Ninja didn't give up. He saw a good advantage when the robot started to fire rockets. Some of the rockets were heading straight for the parking lot. In the background, Principal Slimovitz shrieked in fear._

"Nanja Scarf Grab!" _The Ninja used his scarf to take the rocket heading for the Principal's car. Flinging it, he directed it back to the robot, and aimed for its chest._

 _The bot exploded in just seconds._

 _Everyone cheered, for the Ninja had saved them all once again. Randy grinned behind his mask proudly as he made his way back to the ground. "Thank you, thank you, just doing my job!"_

" _Ninja!" Principal Slimovitz made his way through the crowd and excitedly went up to the hero._

" _Oh, hey, what's up, P-Slims?"_

" _You saved my car! For the first time! Ever!"_

" _I did? Oh, yeah yeah, I did! It's no big deal." Technically, he had no idea he was trying._

" _Is there anything I could do for you, Ninja?_ Anything _at all?"_

 _Randy's eyes lit up at that. "Weeelll…I have these two friends that are working on this concert—"_

" _Done and done!"_

* * *

"Too bad it's in three months though."

"Who cares? This will _definitely_ be our best first concert ever!" Howard pumped his fist in the air.

"Finally! Our band will get the respect it deserves."

"Just one thing, Cunningham. This better _not_ be just like the Battle of the Bands. You better not 'ninja out' and go NNS at the brucest time of our lives!"

Randy let out a laugh as he patted Howard's shoulder. "Chill out, man! It's still in _three months._ What could happen?"

"Last time you said that, something _did_ happen."

"You can't blame the Ninja for having to fight monsters and McFist robots everyday!"

"Oh yes I can! Especially when the Ninja is _my_ best friend. You sure you really gonna have this conversation?"

"Howard, I promise. Absolutely no distractions during our concert."

"Good. Because I'm thinking on the likes of a trio. What do you think about a third band member?"

At those words, Randy stopped walked and widened his eyes. _"Whaaaa?!_ Are you kidding me?"

"What's _your_ deal?"

"Another addition to 30 Seconds to Math? Are you _actually serious for once?"_

"Wow, that hurt."

"Have you _forgotten_ about what happened with Levander?!"

"I know! But wouldn't it be cool to get some awesome free stuff?"

"We don't roll like that anymore! The _music_ is what counts, not the equipment."

"You're losing me right there, Cunningham. Still, a third member would be the cheese! Just as long as he doesn't dump us like Levander did…"

"Howard, _please._ There is no one that can be a third member of our band. Besides, who would be good enough anyway?"

Just as soon as he said that, the boys heard music. They looked up to see a crowd had gathered at the corner of the school, and they all looked pretty excited. It appeared someone was performing a little guitar solo before classes.

"Whoa," Howard said. "That's some gathering. Isn't that against the rules?"

"Maybe, maybe…"

"Shouldn't we tell P-Slims?"

The two boys stared at each other for a while before bursting out into fits of laughter. "Oh, I thought you were serious there for a sec!"

"I know, me too! Man, I sounded so stupid."

"Come on, let's just check it out."

They walked closer to the crowd and had a closer look at who was performing. Everyone was cheering as the person was strumming hardcore notes on a light-blue electric guitar. When Randy and Howard had a closer look, they gasped.

They were looking at the figure of the Ninja.

" _What the juice?!"_

"But you're here—And the Ninja's—What's going on?!"

It appeared that the crowd knew. Because the fake-Ninja "onstage" took his mask off and revealed his face. The boys then realized it wasn't even a boy.

It was a girl. A girl with short, navy-blue hair. Unlike with what happens to Randy, the Ninja suit was still on her, so they had proof she didn't just steal the mask or anything. But the fact that she was just a copy made Randy feel pretty angry. Especially when the crowd continued to clap in praise.

"Thank you, everyone," the fake said politely. "You have been wonderful listeners. This last song goes to all of you. It is one of my favorites, and I hope you all like." The crowd cheered once more in response.

"I am the Kunoichi."

 **(A/N: I forgot to mention one thing, guys! Throughout the story, since this is mostly about a music, I'm going to be posting lyrics to songs :) The first one in this chapter is called "A Female Ninja, But I Want to Love". Originally sung by Hatsune Miku and Kagamine Rin. To listen to the English version, look for JubyPhonic and rachie's version! I got the lyrics from their cover ^^)**

 _Nanana...  
_ _1, 2, 3, 4  
_ _Nanana...  
_ _5, 6, 8, 10_

 _Dojo class, I'll skip another, bye bye  
_ _15 years yet a newbie at this girl ninja thing  
_ _Master, not a single thing makes sense in all of this_

 _Yes yes! Mother always said this to me  
_ _"Being a ninja girl means you can't be girly"  
_ _With that said, my younger days were never ever really much fun..._

 _Then Then Then a night's festivity  
_ _Never had I seen a boy as cool as he  
_ _Red Red Red and deep inside of me  
_ _It beat, you see, and started to break free_

(Here we go, hey!)

 _I love and want to love but, no, it's not allowed  
_ _It's not fair! I don't care! Just let me do what I want  
_ _"Stop this!" and "Quit that!" You're making me freak out  
_ _You know what isn't cool? All these stupid rules!_

 _What to do with me and you to set this feeling free?  
_ _This I think as I watch you from a hole secretly  
_ _Can I really hide inside and under lock and key?  
_ _Ninja girl I am though, fall in love with me!_

 _Nanana...  
_ _1, 2, 3, 4  
_ _Nanana...  
_ _5, 6, 8, 10_

 _Peakin'? What, me? What 'cha saying?  
_ _15 years yet an obvious ninja girl  
_ _If I keep this up I won't get any jobs anymore_

 _"Hey hey, Gatekeeper have you been working out?"  
_ _"Maybe open that big door there for little ol' me.."  
_ _"God, why isn't it working!?" I can't even use this face for my own good..._

 _A merchant's daughter, seeing me denied  
_ _With a "my my my" came running to my side  
_ _Quietly, she whispered with a smile  
_ _Oh, so that's why! We're rivals now, you and I!_

(1, 2, 3, 4!)

 _I love and I want to love, but the foes are ever near!  
_ _Wanna dice through them all with a cut cut I'll be done  
_ _"Stop this!" and "Quit that!" You're making me freak out  
_ _You know what isn't cool? All these stupid rules!_

 _What should I do, I can't be excused for feeling how I feel!  
_ _Bonsai tree I will be in just to watch you breathe  
_ _Can I really hide inside and under lock and key?  
_ _Ninja girl I am though, fall in love with me!_

 _Fall in love with me!_

(insert epic guitar solo here xP)

 _Suddenly came a secret message written for me  
_ _Wi-Widening i-in surprise, my eyes couldn't believe what it read  
_ _Seek out and kill, he was my target like any other  
_ _How could it be!? Why was it he? My mind was running wild with panic  
_ _What do I do? I never knew I'd ever have to pick or choose  
_ _But if I faltered on the job, I knew that'd be my end_

 _Father, Mother, Finally know now  
_ _What I really have to do  
Made up my mind_

 _I love and want to love but, no, it's not allowed  
_ _That's the fate that my life is destined to pursue  
_ _"Stop this!" and "Quit that!" You're making me freak out  
_ _You know what isn't cool? All these stupid rules!_

 _Underneath the harvest moon, I know the time is soon  
_ _Flipping walls, I appear and I'm here before you now  
_ _O happy daggers I have hidden, set me free!  
_ _Ninja girl I am though_

 _Fall in love with me!  
_ _Fall in love with me!  
_ _Fall in love with me!  
_ _Ninja girl, time to love in the ninja way!_

 _Nanana...  
_ _1, 2, 3, 4  
_ _Nanana...  
_ _5, 6, 8, 10_

Once the song ended, the "Kunoichi" finished her guitar solo and everyone cheered loudly again. It appeared the "ninja girl" was a good singer. She gave a light bow and a sweet smile.

" _Arigatou gozaimasu."_

Everyone clapped once more, ready to leave as Kuno packed her stuff. As they all departed, in the background, only two boys had their jaws dropped open in disbelief and slight anger.

After a few moments, Howard snapped out of it first and glared. "Oh no, she didn't."

"OK," Randy said. "Now we can tell P-Slims."

The two dashed to the Principal's office, and the said person they were looking for was just there, reading the rulebook as usual. "Oh, hello, boys! Shouldn't you be getting to your rooms? Class will start soon."

"Principal Slimotvitz," Randy started. "There is a girl outside the school who is selling guitar solo performances for money!"

"Oh, Randy, don't be silly! She's giving them for free."

"But performances are still against the rules!"

"Since when did you two care about rules?"

"Believe me, I'm having a hard time believing it," Howard cut in.

"Just leave her be, boys. She means no harm! That new kid is nothing to worry about. She's just a ninja and music lover! Getting to class on time is something you should look forward to."

With that said, the boys dashed out of the room.

But Randy was still fuming as they jogged to class. "Just a ninja lover, my cheese…" he muttered. "I bet she's just trying to steal the Ninja's spotlight!"

"And be another _distraction_ to our concert!" Howard added. "We've got to make sure that never happens."

"Don't worry! Our concert's for Norrisville High students only anyway! She's probably just a foreigner, we've only seen her today.

They really thought they had nothing to fear. But once they got to class just as the bell rang, Mrs. Driscoll had a big announcement.

"We have a new student coming in today!" she said cheerfully. "She just applied yesterday, and I'm sure most of you met her this morning!"

"Wait, _her?"_

As if on cue, the door opened and a girl walked into the classroom. Randy recognized the short, navy blue hair. The girl had changed out of her ninja costume and was now wearing a light-blue zip-up hoodie, black bell-bottom jeans and purple McKicks. She also had a necklace with a ninja-star pendant hung around her neck and a plain red bangle on her left wrist. Strapped across her back was her black guitar case and slung over shoulder was her purple sling bag. She was dressed just like any normal, everyday girl.

But the feature everyone noticed first was her eyes. Everyone had seen them before, but not from up close. They were deep, dark-brown, and blank. They weren't like the eyes that were stringing a guitar solo just a few minutes ago. It was hard to identify what she was thinking, for her expression was completely _emotionless._ And that's when Randy realized something.

"Dude!" he whispered over at Howard. "That's the girl from this morning! She's a—"

"Norrisville High Student." Howard could only gasp and glare.

" _Ohayou gozaimasu,"_ the girl greeted. Even her voice was just as blank.

"Welcome to Norrisville High!" Mr. Driscoll "said". "Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?"

The new girl didn't get bothered by this at all. She just stood straight in front of the class, who patiently waited for her to speak again. " _Hajimemashite._ My name is Kuno Ichi. I am fourteen years old. Because of my name, I have been called 'The Female Ninja' numerous times. My place of residence must remain unknown, but I can inform I have come here to Norrisville from Japan. Please treat me well." She bowed slightly. _"Dozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu."_

"Thank you, Kuno," Mrs. Driscoll said, smiling politely. "That was…um…"

"Suspicious, that's what!"

"Jerry! Shh, not in front of the students!" It was true though. Kuno had introduced herself so blankly, you would think she'd rehearsed it.

"All right, Ms. Ichi!"

"I prefer to be called Kuno."

"OK…Kuno. Yes, sit behind Cunningham and Weinerman's table!"

Kuno gave a light bow of her head and went to take her seat. "Here she comes, Howard," Randy whispered. "Act natural."

"I will do my best to not rip her guitar in half."

As the new girl placed her stuff down, she went to listen to today's lesson. Randy gave a fake polite smile as he turned to Kuno. "Hello! I am Randy Cunningham. This is my best friend, Howard Weinerman. You are…"

The blue-haired girl blinked at him. "I have just introduced myself in front of the class, if I recall. Did you not pay attention?"

"Yeah, but…what should we call you?"

"…Kuno."

"…That's it? Don't you have a shorter name, or a nickname—"

"My name is Kuno Ichi."

"But—"

"Call me Kuno."

Randy looked at Howard, who gave a confused shrug. "Um, OK…so, you must like music, huh?"

"It is my, what you may call, a 'hobby'."

"So, you don't plan on, I don't know…ever throwing a concert or anything?"

"I only sing and play my songs. I do not know how to compose. I have an incapability of—"

"Good!" Howard interrupted. "Because you're not taking _out_ concert away from us, new girl!"

"Mr. Weinerman!" Mrs. Driscoll scolded. "Is there something you would like to share with the class?"

All eyes were on the two boys as they froze. "Um…nope, nothing."

The teacher squinted. "You have one warning, Mr. Weinerman."

"Hm," Kuno mused. "It appears that talking to you in the middle of classes will put a fifty-fifty chance of me getting in trouble. Therefore, I will no longer speak to you two."

"Wait, we just wanted to make it clear—"

Too late. She stopped looking at the boys and her attention was directed straight forward. "I'm starting to hate her," Howard said.

Randy didn't say or do anything for the rest of the period.

English class was next, and it appeared that Kuno had it for the next period as well. She was at her new locker, fixing her things, as Randy and Howard glared at her from a few lockers away.

"She's big trouble, Cunningham," Howard murmured, a little angrily. "I'm sure of it. She's going to get in the way of everything."

"Howard, relax! She hasn't done anything to get in our way yet. She's new, give her a break. She can 'get out of our way' if we just ignore her. Who said we had to be friends?"

Apparently, it was an option. Second period was just starting and the boys were up for a thriller.

"Well, students," Mr. Bannister announced. "It has been two weeks since the day I gave you your big English essay homework. With me being the considerate person I am—" There were some eye rolls at that. "—I decided to give you an extension to that as well! I have reminded you all countless times, so all of you had _better finished it!"_

"Honking cheese, what English homework?!" Howard shrieked.

"Aw, juice, we forgot about he English essay!" Randy exclaimed. "What could we have been possibly doing in the past two weeks?!"

They decided not to answer that.

"We are _so_ souped!"

They were. Mr. Bannister could not have been more furious at what he _didn't_ see. "And where are your essays, boys?"

Randy and Howard could only stutter. "Well, uh—You see—There was a—And then the—Um—"

"No homework, no grade! One month's detention for both of you!" The duo groaned at the news.

"Detention? I do not understand." They suddenly turned to the neighboring table where Kuno sat. "They merely did not submit their homework. Why must they deserve punishment?"

Mr. Bannister squinted his eyes. "I have told, repeated, and reminded that it was _important_ to give this essay _today!"_

"But you must understand, Mr. Bannister. 90—No, 91% of students most likely do not return their homework on time, or at all. This is usually the cause of stress, distraction, and _blah blah blah…"_ (Please excuse the technical difficulty, for even the narrator has gotten bored of what the girl was saying)

Once she was done, Randy snapped awake from his little nap. "Huh? What?" He quickly nudged Howard, who also grunted and bolted upright.

"Yeesh, kid," Mr. Bannister yawned. "Didn't need all that. Fine, they get a _week_ of detention and a second chance." That lifted the boy's spirits. "Now, all of you, _pay attention now!"_

As the lesson started, Howard sighed in relief. "That was close! Hey, thanks there, new kid."

"You must remember to do your essays now. I can only save people at a limited basis." Yeesh, kid.

"But that still doesn't mean you're off the hook with us!" Randy reminded.

Kuno didn't care either way. She proceeded in giving them the silent treatment.

"That girl's wonk."

"But she has an excellent technique of how to put one to sleep."

When lunch came around, Randy seemed to be ranting a bit. "You know what, maybe she's really not out to steal our thunder. She's just being completely weird for no reason at all."

"Why are we still talking about this?"

"Because I feel like there's more to her than just her stage name! I mean, Kuno Ichi? That is _not_ a name."

"Hey, at least if she's trying to steal the Ninja's job, you can spend more time at 30 Seconds to Math."

"Not helping, Howard!"

Just at the moment when Randy wasn't paying attention, he bumped his tray into someone else's. He looked up and his eyes widened slightly at the sight of Theresa Fowler. "Oh, sorry, Randy," she said apologetically. And sweetly.

Randy found himself blushing a little. "Theresa! Oh, yeah, sure! No prob, yeah."

The girl suddenly giggled as she walked away. Randy restrained himself from sighing but failed miserably.

"Dude, just kiss already," Howard joked.

The purple-haired teen glared. "What the juice, man."

Howard smirked as they went and took their seats at Shangri-Lunch.

They were just about to eat when they saw someone enter the cafeteria. "It's the new girl again," Howard warned.

"Why are you telling me?"

"Just wanted to see you fume again."

Randy scoffed. "We're not gonna get anywhere worrying about her."

As Kuno lined up for food, someone else had entered the cafeteria. It was Bash and his gang. And they looked especially mean today.

"Out of my way!" he shouted, shoving through the line. Because no one wanted to deal with him, they all backed up for the bully.

When Bash saw Kuno, he shoved her away. "Excuse you!"

" _Sumimasen._ That was my place."

Bash turned to her, smirking. "Yeah? Well it's my place now! Cuz I took it from ya!" With that said, Bash had gotten the last plates of "good food", which was supposedly for Kuno. Yet, she still stared blankly.

"Cutting in is rude. I request you give me my food back."

By now, everyone was watching as Bash gritted his teeth. "What if I don't? You're a girl! What, yous gonna cry about it? Cuz you're a girl!" He laughed at his own joke.

The sound of the crowd's "oooh"s filled the air.

Kuno still did not get intimidated. "No. I would do this."

Before Bash could notice, she reached under his tray and flipped it. The food landed on his head with a _splat._ The entire thing was dripping down on him. Everyone gasped at the new girl's blunt actions.

Bash let out a shout of rage, wiping the food goo off. "Yous gonna pay for this! After lunch! You're gonna get it, new kid!"

"I do not understand what I would 'be getting'. We are in different grades, therefore in different classes." The crowd "ooooh"ed at Bash this time.

The bully couldn't retort at that. "Nnnghhh! Your words confuse me! You're still gonna get it!" He stomped out of the cafeteria, still fuming.

Kuno didn't appear to be threatened. She didn't appear to be hungry anymore either, as she started to walk out of the cafeteria as well. After seeing the entire scene, Randy and Howard bolted up from their seats and stared at the girl in shock.

"Are you _completely out of your mind?!"_

"You just got Bash mad!" Howard exclaimed. "He is _so going_ to get after you!"

Kuno only blinked. "I do not see the problem in coming after me."

"What are you—ever heard of bullies in your old school, new girl?!"

"Perhaps not." Kuno paused. "I do not see why you suddenly care about my safety. I thought I was not 'off the hook'." The boys had no response to that. "If you'll excuse me. I'm skipping lunch. There are chemicals in the food that are not good for my system."

As she walked away, Howard didn't seem to be minded by her use of words and sniffed his bowl of chili. "Yeesh. No wonder it was bubbling." He paused, shrugged, and took a spoonful while Randy tried not to barf.

When lunch ended, it was now time for Gym. It was another period Kuno had, and so did the boys. She was supposedly in the Girls class, and they tried not to think about it too much. She was right, after all. She should not be a part of their problems. But their problems _did_ increase when they heard yet another horrible set of information.

"Good news, class!" the psycho-coach cheered. "Due to some incidents with the 11th Grade Gym teacher, I had to fill in! But, because I had a class with _you_ 9th graders as well, we're gonna have combined classes!" The entire Grade 9 Gym class groaned. "For today's competition, we're having dodgeball!" Everyone groaned louder.

Across the room, Bash was with his gang, grinning rather evilly as they held red rubber balls, threatening to throw them. Randy turned to Howard, eyes slightly widened.

"We're _so_ gonna get juiced!"

"I know! We know _nothing_ about dodgeball! Or any sport for that matter!"

It didn't seem to matter either way. Once the coach blew on the whistle, it was war.

Being older, bigger, and stronger, the 11th Graders obviously had the greater advantage. They took the 9th Graders out one by one, left and right, in practically no time at all. The best Howard and Randy could do was duck and dodge.

"They're killing us!" Howard yelled, ducking again. "I barely had time to see them coming!"

"Well, goodbye to dignity."

But maybe all hope was not lost. A red dodgeball suddenly hit an 11th Grader straight in the face. They all looked but two more balls came in. Randy and Howard turned and gasped.

Kuno was expertly dodging the balls by performing back and front flips. She was jumping, kicking, punching the balls like it was some sort of routine pattern to her. The blank expression on her face never changed.

"Uh, why are you here?!" Randy practically shouted. "This is boys' Gym class!"

"I was given the decision to choose what side of Gym I would take on the first day," Kuno responded, still in her zone. "And yes, I chose the Boys. Now, let me focus."

"I so want to crush yous right now!" Bash yelled, throwing more balls and failing to have them hit.

Randy and Howard now seemed to be the only 9th Grade boys on the court now. And that was a bad thing. _"Ah!"_ They shielded themselves, bracing for another ball that was directed at them.

But it never came in contact. Kuno came right in and blocked the balls with her fists. She glanced at them, ever-so-slightly, before returning to the battle.

"…Something about that second-glance death glare tells me that she wants us to help her."

Howard burst out into laughter, but stopped almost immediately. "Oh, you're serious."

Randy picked up another ball and threw it. He was thrilled to see it hit an 11th Grader and gained more confidence at that. He ducked another ball and grinned. "Ha!" Howard had no choice now but to join in now.

By then, it was now a Randy, Howard, and Kuno battle against Bash. And he was more than furious to know the fact. "Yous all are going down!"

Before anyone could react, he threw the ball at super-fast speed. Everyone watched it zoom towards Kuno and gasped. The girl didn't flinch and just stood straight,

Then she held her hand out. As if one cue, the ball landed straight into her hand It tried pushing forward, but Kuno had a strong grip. The ball finally stopped spinning and everyone stared in shock. The girl finally looked up, a tiny glint being noticed from her eye.

"You're out."

It took even Coach Green a while to snap out of it. "What? Oh, um…9th Grade wins?"

All the freshmen cheered from the bench and started high-fiving each other. The 11th Graders groaned in defeat. "This ain't fair!" Bash shouted. "Let's do a rematch!" His buddies had to drag him away kicking and screaming.

"All right!" Rand and Howard laughed as they performed their bro slap. "That was wicked close."

"Totally bruce-tastic!"

Randy grinned, but it slowly faded when he turned and saw Kuno. Some of the freshmen were congratulating her, but she wasn't celebrating at all. In fact, she looked a little sad. Then again, he expression never changed.

"Yo, Cunnigham, what's up?"

The boy ignored his friend, walking up to the new girl, leaving Howard no choice but to follow him again. "Hey, Kuno," he called. "Great job back there."

She turned to look at the boy, the slightest hint of surprise on her face. It quickly faded. "It is only natural for me to accomplish all I do with success and perfection."

"Well then, Little Miss Perfect," Howard said, rolling his eyes. "I guess we forgive you for trying to take our spotlight. We believe now you mean no harm."

"…I do not know how to respond to that."

Randy chuckled. "It's gonna take a while to get used to Howard speak."

"Just like with your Japanese, which we still can't understand," Howard put in.

" _Sou desu…"_ Kuno mused. She then realized she spoke Japanese again and gave a slight bow of her head. "I look forward to that then. Pardon me, my next class will start in thirteen minutes." With these words, she walked away.

"…Still think she's suspicious?"

"Oh, yeah," The purple-haired teen rubbed the back of his head. "Guess we have to keep an eye out for her then."

"And by we, I hope you mean 'you',"

"No, _us._ That girl is too full of herself for her own good."

"How can you tell?"

"…You know what, let's just get to class."

"Yeah. Apparently, it starts in thirteen minutes. Hey, did that Kuno kid have a watch on her?"

Randy shrugged, having no clue.

* * *

School finally ended and night fell upon Norrisville. Kuno Ichi was just casually walking under at night, under the streetlight, heading towards a certain building. One that was labeled "McFist Industries"

She entered through the back entrance, where a secret door to a tunnel through the brick wall was waiting for her to open. She crawled inside, as it shortly lead to a certain someone's evil lab.

Immediately, a certain robot named Otto came out of hiding and flew to her, making a few noises. He was practically flying around Kuno, acting all excited. The girl patted its little head and handed over what looked like a can of oil. The bot chirped happily, thanking her.

"Sit down, Otto," a sassy voice called out from within the darkness. "Give her some space."

"I have returned," Kuno announced. "Master."

"Hello, Kuno."

Kuno's "Master" finally emerged, and revealed a grinning Viceroy. He was smiling rather smugly. "Just in time for your rounds."

"I was programmed by you to always be on time."

"Mm-hmm. You know the drill, sweetie. On the table you go."

Kuno did as commanded. She laid herself out on one of Viceroy's experiment tables and her wrists and ankles were restrained. The table slowly lifted up, and the platform was placed against the wall. Mechanical arms reached out and started checking for any signs of damage.

"How was school?" Viceroy called, typing on a computer. He started downloading Kuno's memories of the day. "I see you played dodgeball with the boys?"

"It was an obvious victory," Kuno said simply, a mechanical hand massaging her dodgeball hand. "I won for my team without any faults."

"Good, good. Keep it up, my child. Now, for our normal routine." Viceroy turned to his creation.

"Yes, Master."

"What is your name?"

"My name is Kuno Ichi. I am known as the Female Ninja."

"Who created you?"

"Viceroy is my creator, and I must respect and obey him."

"What is your purpose?"

"I am to serve the Sorcerer, and spy on the Ninja."

"What is your goal?"

"I _will_ be the one to assassinate him."

* * *

 **Wow, I had to work on this for the whole day! It was fun, though. This whole chapter was basically wrapped around the introduction of Kuno :) I hope you guys liked it!**

 **As said, I have huge plans for this story! I promise you all, the next chapters will be bruce-tastic! All you need to do is read, keep yourself updated, and most of all, enjoy! And, ah, I say this a lot, but reviews are appreciated! I really wanna know if I should continue this or not.. .3.**

 **See you all next time~ :) (I hope)**

 **Edit: I'll give this fic a few more days. If I findfind through the stats that there's no one reading this, I'm gonne delete it. No hard feelings I just don't like posting stuff no one likes :)**


	2. I Do Not Understand

**Chapter 2: I Do Not Understand**

* * *

 **People hate me -.-**

 **Lolol I don't know if that's true but I'm surely not getting any better stats. Not even in my other songfic! Sad. Anyway, to those who do read this, hope you enjoy!**

 **P.S. I was watching the 30 Seconds to Math and Monster Drill episodes on Disney Channel while I was writing this! Made me feel a little bit better~**

* * *

"So, Howard," Randy called out, as the two pedaled on their bikes on their way to school. "Did you finish your essay yesterday?"

"Ahahaha, honk no!" Howard called back. "That thing was way too hard."

"Wha—How is choosing what the greatest moment of your life is be hard?"

"It was hard to choose between the first time I discovered the Game Hole or the first time I ate a sandwich. What did _you_ write?"

"The day we first met."

"Whoa, man. Don't go sappy on me."

"Randy rolled his eyes as they came to a stop. He then turned his head and recognized someone from the sidewalk. "Hey, it's Kuno," he pointed out.

"Who?"

"Kuno Ichi? The one who got us out of a month's detention and a second chance at the essay?"

"Ah, I'd probably like her better if she fully got us out of both."

"What the juice—Just yesterday you wanted to be friends with her because of that!"

"Yo, Kuno!" Howard shouted, ignoring him.

The girl suddenly looked up from a piece of paper she was reading and stared at the boys. "Oh, it is you two." Again wit the blank expression. _"Ohayou."_

"Shouldn't you be at school?" Randy asked, examining her guitar bag. "Performing early, or whatever."

"It is to be postponed today. It appears that I am lost."

Suddenly, Howard burst out into a fit of laughter at her words. Randy raised an eyebrow while Kuno did not flinch or react. Seeing their faces, Howard frowned. "Wait, you're serious?"

"I do not recall ever trying to joke around."

"School's just around the corner, dude, how can you miss it?"

"I have only been around Norrisville for three weeks. Yesterday was, as you know it, my first day of school."

"Well, we could show you the way if you'd like," Randy offered. "Give you a lift?"

"Uh, Cunningham?" Howard called. "In case you forgot, our bikes are big enough for one person each?"

"It is all right. If you would be so kind to show me the way, that would be fine."

Randy pointed forward. "Just go straight and that's it. Norrisville High will be right there."

" _Arigatou gozaimasu."_

"Just for the record, what does that even mean?"

"Thank you. I shall be on my way now." With that, she walked away.

"I hate how she always gets the last word," Howard muttered, as they continued to pedal off.

* * *

That Tuesday, the first class was Poetry. It was supposedly another class the boys had with Kuno. Mrs. Zingwald was just in a good mood too.

"All right, class. Let's have a poem exercise today! Write a one-versed, four-lined, poem, and let all lines end with the same letter. Plus points if you can make it rhyme!"

"Well, this should be easy," Randy admitted.

"Yeah, good night, Cunningham."

Just as everyone went and got started, Kuno stood up and walked towards the teacher. She was more than confused when she was given a little piece of paper. "And what is this, Miss Kuno?"

"A slip," the blue-haired teen replied blankly.

The teacher adjusted her glasses. "To be excuses from poetry class?"

"Please understand, Mrs. Zingwald. I have an incapability to rhyme. Or to compose."

"But aren't you a singer?"

"I do not write my own songs. I merely translate."

Mrs. Zingwald was still unsure but she nodded her head anyway. "All right, if you say so. You are excused."

"Thank you." The girl gave a slight bow as she went to take her seat.

"Is Mrs. Zingwald really gonna believe that?" Howard scoffed, eyeing Kuno.

"Well, I think she told us the same thing yesterday," Randy noted. "We should just leave it alone."

"Hmph. Shoob."

At lunch, they didn't appear to be surprised when they heard the sound of music and cheering in the cafeteria. "What the juice?" Randy muttered at what he saw. Kuno was strumming away on her guitar again, standing on a table she used as a stage.

"Even at my favorite time of the day," Howard sighed.

"Hey, Randy!" Theresa greeted when she saw the teen boy.

Randy had to grin when he saw her. "Hey, Theresa! The new girl's at it again?"

"Uh-huh. She's kinda good on that guitar, don't you think?"

Howard only scoffed. "Shoob."

 **(A/N: This time it's a song called "Detention Teacher", or in Japanese, "Inokori Sensei". Lyrics by JubyPhonic again! Look for her cover, it's the honking cheese :) )**

 _Now class, do you like your teacher or not?  
_ _(Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah)  
_ _Anybody holding back or didn't nod  
_ _I'll see you when class is done_

 _You think that I'd really care, are you blind?  
_ _Go on, keep glaring like I'm just a brat, fine!  
_ _You versus me, we don't match up at all  
_ _Cause I'm a grown man, at least…some might call_

 _All of this petty talk, don't mess around with me  
_ _I'm not kid so just cut it out! It's not like I'm three  
_ " _You couldn't handle this" You said time and again  
_ _Well your loss, 'cause I win…hah?_

 _Now class, do you like your teacher or not?  
_ _(Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah)  
_ _Anybody holding back or didn't nod  
_ _I'll see you around soon_

 _Hey sir, I hate you, ya know?  
_ _Friends wouldn't do this or make me feel so alone  
_ _Alright! Unanimous then, they all agree so take a win!_

 _Hey sir, you think this is right?  
_ _Look at this homework I've let all just slip by  
_ _Is it bad if I wanted your hand?  
To help me like you did back then?_

 _Call me a kid all want but you know  
_ _You versus me, we got some things the same though (?)  
_ _Falling in love, even I've felt it grow  
_ _Cause I'm mature now…at least, I think so_

 _Give up the tough guy act, I know you're not like that  
_ _I see right through all your poker faces  
_ _So now I'm all grown and - don't have to hold my hand  
_ _Step away, got it yet? Hah?_

 _Now class, do you like your teacher or not?  
_ _(Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah)  
_ _I could never just agree or go along  
_ _If it's just an act to show them_

 _Hey sir, I hate you, ya know?  
_ _Friends wouldn't do this or make me feel so alone  
_ _Alright! Unanimous then, they all agree so take a win!_

 _Hey sir, you think this is right?  
_ _Look at this homework I've let all just slip by  
_ _Is it bad if I wanted your hand?  
To help me like you did back then?_

 _Everybody always hanging 'round all the time  
_ _Everybody smiling as you joke from behind  
_ _Finally it hit me that I'm watching go by  
The things that once were mine_

 _Everybody always hanging 'round all the time  
_ _All my favorite things were piling up in my mind  
_ _Though you can never know how special they are  
_ _Until you feel them slipping by_

(insert bruce guitar solo here :D)

 _Now class, do you like your teacher or not?  
_ _(Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah)  
_ _Always "I" before "E", except after "C"  
_ _(Always "I" before "E", except after "C")_

 _Now then, do you all like my classes or not?  
_ _(Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah)  
_ _Anybody holding back or didn't nod  
_ _That would leave just me, am I wrong?_

 _On and on, a thousand years gone  
_ _Meeting and leaving us at every day's dawn  
_ _Give it up and get back in line  
You could try one more time_

 _Hey sir, you hate me or what?  
_ _Acting like we're just some strangers at school, enough!  
_ _Alright! I do matter then, and I'm the vote you need to win_

 _Hey sir, remember the days?  
_ _All that inside you's still breaking, but you can change  
_ _Solving now, you've got me on your side  
_ _You're home again this time  
_ _And we can laugh and grin  
_ _Just like we did always back then_

When her song ended, everyone clapped as she bowed and finally got off the table. Everyone that had gathered in a crowd finally went off to eat their lunch. "So bruce," Theresa commented.

"Well, she's not bad," Randy shrugged. "But 30 Seconds to Math will rock even harder than she will!"

"I heard about your concert," Theresa grinned at him politely. "Can't wait to see you play!"

"That's right, we'll be awesome," Howard bragged, cutting into their conversation. "We'll totally rock your socks off. I believe that's even possible."

"Awesome. See you around, Randy!" With that, the teen girl walked away.

Randy waved and sighed dreamily again. Howard scoffed again as they sat down at a table. "Shoob."

"Really, Howard?"

"What? You are."

A few minutes after they sat down, someone came up to them. Randy looked up and was surprised to see Kuno. _"Konnichiwa."_

"Oh great," Howard muttered. "Again with the Japanese."

"What's up?"

"Would you mind if I sat down with you? There are no available chairs."

"What? That's stupid, there are plenty o—"

Randy quickly nudged him. "Howard, it's just her way of saying she needs our guidance because she doesn't know anyone else!" Kuno only continued to stare blankly.

Howard hesitated, until he slowly broke into a grin. "Ohhh, I seeeee. Well, then, be our guest!"

"Thank you." Kuno sat down across the boys and set down a paper bag.

"You bring a packed lunch?" Randy questioned.

" _Hai."_ Kuno opened it up and brought out a single black can.

"And _that's_ all you're having for lunch?"

"I am, on what you may call, a strict diet." The girl popped it open and took a full swig. The boys could've sworn they saw the liquid was as black as the can. She wiped the base of her mouth with her finger and took one more gulp.

"OK, Howard," Randy whispered to his friend. "Make small talk. Don't seem stupid in front of the new girl."

"Got it."

"Sooo, Kuno!" The girl looked at Randy at the sound of her name. "How are you finding Norrisville High so far?"

Kuno answered like an automatic response. "It is very lively. Everyone here is either refined or connote, intellectual or dim-witted."

"Ugh, we told you!" Howard complained. "No Japanese!"

"Speaking of dim-witted…" Kuno brought a piece of paper out of from her jacket pocket and handed it to Howard. "According to my data yesterday, you are one who does not do their homework, even if you were given second chances. I pulled my information together and printed an essay for you."

"Wait, what?" Randy asked, raising an eyebrow. That certainly was suspicious… "How did you—"

 _"Yes!"_ Howard decided not to question it at all and snatched the homework from her hands, quickly scanning it. "This is _exactly_ how I would write this! Thanks, Kuno!"

"What did you put—"

"Not telling ya!"

"If you want to get out of detention, you should really pay attention to your—"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it."

"And I take it you did not even listen to the song I was singing yesterday."

Distracted by what she said, Randy tilted his head at her. "Yeah, you seemed to know the perfect song the people would like."

"Naturally. I am a bit, as you may call, 'glad' there are music fans here, though,"

"Oh, yeah, yeah! There are a _lot_ of music fans here! In fact, in three months' time, there's gonna be a 30 Seconds to Math concert! And yes, we mean us, because we're 30 Seconds to Math."

" _Souka…"_ Kuno muttered. "I take it that this is what you meant the other day when you did not want me to 'take your concert away from you'?"

The two boys looked at each other awkwardly. "We were, uh…a bit panicky to see you yesterday?"

"Hm. Well, I look forward to seeing your 'concert'. I would be honored to help out if I must."

"Yeah, we got it covered," Howard promised proudly. "But _maybe_ if you're so desperate to be a part of this whole thing, we'll consider it."

"You really like music, Kuno?" Randy asked.

"Yes. As I have said, it is my 'hobby'. Music is the one thing that truly sets me free."

"Free? What, you got bad parents or something?"

"You can say. But that aside, I love listening to music. It is the first thing I heard when I was 'born'. I cannot live without it."

"That's nice to know, I guess. But other than music, what else do you live for?"

"Hm. I guess you may say I am a fan of the Ninja."

"Hmph," Howard scoffed. "Who _isn't?"_ Randy rolled his eyes and smiled.

"I think it's good that you're a fangirl. The Ninja would love to meet you."

"Oh, no. I do not just want to meet him. I believe this is different. When I first came to Norrisvile, I made a solemn vow that I would be able to have a good look at him. He apparently sees himself as a hero, but nobody knows who he inside the Ninja suit. I intend to find him."

"Wow!" Randy gasped in pretend enthusiasm and covered nervousness. "Such…determination! Who again did you say you wanted to meet?"

When Kuno looked up at Randy, he almost stepped back when he saw her eyes again. He could've sworn he saw pixels move through those deep eyes. It was as if she was analyzing him. "When I meet the Ninja, I will observe him. I will be the one to identify his identity."

Randy wasn't sure if this was a threat or not.

Just then, at that very moment, a mechanical arm of what looked like a giant robot octopus burst through the cafeteria wall. Everyone stared at it before a brief moment right before they started screaming and running away.

"McFist again," Randy muttered, squinting his eyes.

The robot octopus arm seemed to be feeling around for something. Until it found it. The hand got a good grip around Kuno and started to pull her out of the building. The entire time, the blue-haired teen didn't even flinch.

"Kuno!" Randy shouted.

"You know, I have a feeling she'll be all right," Howard said.

"Not good enough! They're probably after her because she wants to find the Ninja!"

"That doesn't make much sense."

"No time to talk! It's ninja o'clock!"

Outside the school, the robot octopus continued to wreak havoc through the school with its eight robotic tentacle arms. It may have found Kuno but now it sought out for the Ninja. "Where is he?!" McFist, who was watching everything back at the Industries, screamed out. "Your little robot girl needs to identify him _now_ , Viceroy!"

"Patience, Hannibal," the scientist sighed. "Kuno Ichi is high advanced technology. Even if so, knowing who the Ninja is will take time."

" _Well, we don't have time!"_

"…Right."

" _Tasukete,"_ Kuno muttered from the robot's grip. Apparently, the damsel in distress act wasn't her "thing".

" _Ninja slice!"_ A sword suddenly came out of nowhere and slashed right through the robot arm. Kuno was actually surprised when she was finally released and then started to fall.

" _Ninja scarf swing!"_ At the same moment, the Ninja came right in and caught her by the waist. Once they were back on the ground, the Ninja set her down and Kuno stared at her savior's face.

"The Ninja of Norrisville…" she mumbled.

Was it her, or was the Ninja avoiding eye contact. "Yep, yeah, that's me! I'm the Ninja, I saved you, and…yeah."

"Wait," Kuno tried to say, but the Ninja had already gone and went to attack the robot. All the girl could do now was stare some more, wait…and run up to the top of the school.

"All right, McFist," Randy, as the Ninja, murmured. "I don't know what you wanted with Kuno, but I'm still gonna take you down!"

The robo-octo only seemed to grin right back.

" _Ninja cold balls!"_ The balls turned into ice at the floor and started to head for the octopus' direction. It only jumped at the moment the ice neared and activated what looked like its suction cups. It sort of looked like they were made out of McFist's toilet plungers. It landed on the ice, perfectly fine. The octopus just advanced on the Ninja again.

"Aw, great," the Ninja grumbled. _"Ninja scarf swing again!"_

He used a lamppost to swing behind the octopus. Before the robot could turn around, the Ninja was ready. "OK, Octo, have a taste of my _Ninja Tengu Fireball!"_

When the fireball was shot, the octopus seemed to be just as prepared. The tentacles didn't just have toilet plungers for suctions cups, because it also spouted ink out. The Tengu Fireball died right down. And to make it worse, the octopus turned back to him.

"What?! Even _that_ you dodge?"

The Octopus held all it's tentacles up, ready to bring them down.

" _Ninja dodge, ninja dodge, ninja dodge, ninja dodge, ninja dodge, ninja dodge, and ninja dodge!"_ He paused for a breath and then realized something. "Wait a minute, I counted seven—"

At the moment of his distraction, the last tentacle grabbed him and wrapped him up in it. The other tentacles came and restrained him as well, leaving him completely vulnerable. The Ninja could barely move, much less get his sword out. "Uh-oh," he said. "So shoobed."

"Forget about knowing the Ninja's identity!" McFist shouted out in glee. _"We will destroy him now!"_

The octopus opened its mouth, readying a rocket blast directed right at the Ninja. All Randy could do now was stare in horror.

And just at the last minute, something knocked into the octopus' face, delaying its attack. The figure landed on the robot tentacle that held the Ninja, and he stared at who was now _his_ savior.

A certain blue-haired teenager was there, in a ninja-landing pose. She stood up, and Randy realized she was wearing her identical Ninja suit, minus the mask. Plus, Randy then realized the designs on it were dark blue and nothing like the original. Still, he stared in both shock and confusion. "Kuno?" the Ninja questioned. "What are you—"

Before he could finish, the girl lifted her suit sleeve to reveal the red bangle she always wore. But it wasn't just an accessory, it also had a laser hidden inside it. The laser broke through the tentacles and set the Ninja free.

"Whoa!" the Ninja shouted as they landed back on the ground. The robot octopus seemed to gasp at its broken arms. "Wow, you really broke them."

"I leave the rest to you, Ninja," Kuno said, bowing slightly.

"Ninja! Kuno!" The two turned to see Howard running up to them, panting. "Are you _crazy_ , new girl?"

"I think you asked me that once yesterday."

"Whatever! Leave the Ninja-ing to the Ninja, will you?"

"Howard, it's all right, she saved me!"

"How do you two know each other?"

Randy held back a gasp from behind his mask. "Oh, well, uh—"

"Ah, it's all good," Howard interrupted. "He saved me a couple of times before in the past. We're tight now."

"Hm. I see. Not to break the moment, but…" Kuno pointed up at the octopus, who looked even more furious than before.

"Gotcha." The Ninja started to advance back at the octopus, jumping up to perform another attack. _"Ninja Air Fist!"_

The attack seemed to blind the robot. It coughed and waved at the air fist, giving the Ninja another chance to strike.

" _Ninja Rage!"_

Fireballs were repeatedly struck at the robot octopus, and this time, it didn't have a chance. In just mere seconds, the robot exploded and its broken parts fell down on the campus like rain.

" _Ninja! Ninja! Ninja!"_ everyone cheered.

" _Noooooo!"_ McFist's screams could almost be heard from all the way to the school. "Viceroy! Your _robot girl_ completely _ruined everything!"_

The evil scientist only sighed. "It's all according to plan, sir."

"…It is?"

"Not entirely. I wasn't _expecting_ her to break the robot fully. I'll have a talk with her later."

Meanwhile, everyone continued to praise the Ninja. Kuno and Howard ran up to him, where the boy pumped his fist in the air for his friend. "All right, Ninja!"

"Thank you, thank you!" the Ninja waved. Then he spotted Kuno and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks for saving me, by the way."

Kuno was almost sure he was avoiding eye contact again. "It is my pleasure, Ninja." There was now a bit of silence.

"…Sooo…yeah, um, I'm just going to, uh— _Smokebomb!"_

Once the crowd cleared, Kuno took her bangle again and pressed a button. Just like with the original, Kuno's suit started to unravel from black rope-like structures, shrinking into her jacket, and leaving Kuno back in her normal clothes. "Whoa!" Howard gasped. "It's just like with the normal Ninja su—I mean…yeah, cool, very nice."

Kuno did not seem to notice him falter. "This was designed personally for my needs. I only use the suit for emergencies."

"Well, that's an easy way to carry it around."

The girl turned to see Randy walking up to them. "Hello, Randall. You missed everything. Where have you gone?"

"First off, if you like to be called Kuno, I must ask you call me _Randy._ Second off, I was just uh—"

"Cunningham always hogs the boys' bathroom whenever the Ninja's around," Howard interrupted again. "He claims it's _fun_ to 'play' around while everyone's watching the Ninja."

"What? I don't—I mean, yeah! I do that…" Randy silently glared at Howard.

Something about this made Kuno widen her eyes a little. There was something in Howard's words she had to think about. But for now, she cast it aside. "Hm. If you say so." There was a bit of silence for a while again.

Howard cleared his throat. "Putting that aside, your moves earlier were still so _honking bruce!"_

Even Randy grinned. "Yeah! They were the _cheese!_ Are you sure you're not secretly a ninja?"

Instead of replying, Kuno stared at them. "…Bruce? Cheese?"

"Uh…"

"How does the topic of my fighting refer to a name of a person and those of food?"

The two boys could only stare at her. "I'm gonna be honest with you," Howard put in. "I have no idea what you mean."

"Bruce and cheese are just how we express ourselves," Randy explained awkwardly. "You know! When we really like something… 'That's so bruce!' or 'that's the cheese!' You know!"

Kuno blinked at them numerous times. "…I think I see now. 'That was so bruce'. "

"There, you see? Doesn't it sound great to say?"

"Hm." Apparently, she wasn't so sure. "Well. We better get back to class."

At that very moment, the bell rang.

"Huh," Randy said. "Looks like we _do_ have to get back to class."

"And it's English next!" Howard cheered. "Oho, Mr. Bannister is gonna freak when he sees the essay I wrote!"

"You mean the essay Kuno wrote."

"Shhh, Cunningham, not on campus!"

Randy chuckled as they started to walk away. But then he stopped when he saw Kuno staring down at the octopus' mechanical parts. He then frowned at her lonely figure.

"Hey, Kuno," The girl turned at the sound of her name. Randy managed a smile at her. "You're all right. Wanna hang out with us sometimes?"

The girl only blinked at him. "I do not understand what your term 'hanging out' means…but it sounds exceptional. I say yes to your question."

The two boys stared at her and looked at each other. "Her words are confusing, but I'll take it," Howard shrugged. They then smiled as Kuno walked over to them.

"At least with her around, we have someone to help with homework!" The three walked back inside, with the two boys all smiles and laughs.

Somewhere deep in her mechanical heart, Kuno smiled.

* * *

That night on the way home, Kuno was welcomed with a very furious McFist.

" _There you are!"_ he shrieked. "Care to explain what happened earlier?!"

"Master McFist," Kuno started. "My apologies, but I am not programmed to tell you anything."

" _VICEROY!"_

The scientist only smirked as he started the computer. "Lay down, Kuno."

As they performed their usual routine, Viceroy walked up to the robot girl. "Why _did_ you do that, girl? We made it perfectly clear about your mission for the day."

"Forgive me, Master. I simply thought it would be better if they truly believed I was on their side. Destroying the robot was the only way to do that. And frankly, I was not the one who _completely_ destroyed it."

"Ooh!" McFist grinned. "She has spunk!"

Viceroy hesitated as he stared up at the girl. "…OK. But just in case, I want a look at your heart monitor."

Kuno unzipped her jacket to reveal her built-in shirt. If this was ever noticed in school, then they would know she was a robot. The robot girl pressed a hand over her heart and a small panel door opened up. Behind her chest was a heart-shaped piece of metal, that beat mechanical beats like a normal heart did.

A smaller, mechanical arm connected itself to the center of the heart and Viceroy typed away on his computer. "Hmmm…" He examined the results, and Kuno's "emotions" before turning back to her. "I guess you are forgiven. But your data also tells me you have a plan?"

"Yes, Master. I humbly request that you do not attack Norrisville High for a while."

" _WHAT?!"_ McFist exploded.

"And why is that, Kuno?"

"I would like to conduct an experiment. I would like to examine the students of Norrisville High and see who would most likely be the Ninja. I believe if I continue to be a normal student, I will know for sure."

"That makes zero sense!" McFist shouted.

"No, it does have a bit of reason behind it," Viceroy mused. "And besides. I'll be able to get a vacation from making my brilliant plans."

" _MY brilliant plans!"_

"I will not fail you, Master," Kuno promised.

"I know you won't, child." Viceroy turned his computer off and the mechanical arm disconnected. "Now, time to get some sleep! You have many days ahead of you."

" _Hai."_

As the system shut down, Kuno's mechanical eyes seemed to shutter down as well. The pixels danced across her pupils, as she prepared for logging out. Then her eyes went dim and she shut her eyelids.

* * *

 **Had to hurry it up with this one! I seriously need more viewers.**

 **Not gonna say much this time except that I hope you'll leave a review or something! 3**


	3. The Art of Sneaking

**Chapter 3: The Art of Sneaking**

* * *

 **No one seems to have liked this to the fullest yet, so I'm going to kick this up a notch! Be prepared for a bit of humor! Honestly, I wasn't so sure when I thought up of this chapter, but every other idea I thought ended up being too Mary Sue-ish for my taste. So for that reason, this had to be done! I don't know with you readers, but I'm feeling pretty good about this chapter. I just _had_ to post it a little earlier, I was still getting pretty bummed out by my stats. Especially when I had to take down my one-shot fic T-T**

 **So yeah, please review, favorite, or something! Thanks again to those that have reviewed so far though~ I appreciate it uvu**

 **Enjoy~**

* * *

Many things can happen in two weeks. Not really so much for the boys. They've been dealing with the usual for the past days: schoolwork, homework, avoiding homework, Grave Puncher. And in addition to that: Kuno. The girl was getting more and more suspicious. Unfortunately for them, she was good at hiding that up. Apparently, her way of "hanging out" was helping the boys with their homework.

"This is so haaaaard," Howard complained one day at Randy's house.

Kuno blinked at him blankly. "I do not see what is so difficult about this problem. If x is equal to 24y + 3z, then surely—"

"You know what?" Randy interrupted. "Just tell us the answer, we'll be fine."

"Hm. If you say so."

Every time she finished something with them, she'd make up an excuse and go home immediately. Never stayed for Grave Puncher or just a break. Their "hanging out" seemed more like a chore. Even though the boys' grades _did_ rise up because of Kuno's work, Randy had to hesitate. She never mentioned anything about her parents, her home, or anything about her own life. She always kept to herself, and mostly did their work in silence.

"Another A!" Howard cheered as they got out of class. "Man, Mr. Bannister had no idea what hit him."

"Are you certain that no one suspects this as cheating?" Kuno asked as they walked down the halls and towards Kuno's locker. "I am concerned of what might happen if anyone found up."

"Yeah, don't worry about it! Hey, how about you help us with our History homework later? Cunningham's place as usual?"

"All right."

"Hey, Kuno," Randy said. "How about we do today's homework at your place? I mean, we've never been to your house before, so—"

"My house?" Kuno echoed. She blinked for a while, and Randy could've sworn he saw her eyes analyzing the situation or something. "No, I must decline. My parents are too busy cleaning the house today. They're always busy as well. It is impossible for one to ever pay a visit to my house."

 _There she went again. Another "perfect" excuse. So monotone, so practiced._

"Uh, Cunningham?" Howard asked. "You all right?"

"What? Oh, nothing. Well, if you want to do it at my house again, yeah sure. Same old, same old. Nothing boring about that."

"Good. It's time for Gym class, yes?"

Once again, the bell rang just in time.

"How do you always do that?!" Randy shouted.

Kuno merely shrugged. She took her Gym clothes out and nodded at the boys. "I will see you two later." With that, she went to class.

"Something's up with Kuno, Howard," Randy said.

"What do you mean."

"I mean, isn't it weird she always has an excuse for never letting us go to her house? And how we never know what she does after school?"

"Uh, of course we know! She does our homework."

"I meant _other_ than that!" The teen boy tapped his chin. "She's hiding more things from us."

"Why should we care? As long as she's helping us get As, that's all right, right?"

"She's a _friend_. Now cover me while I have a look at the Nomicon."

Howard groaned as he opened his locker. "Do you _always_ have to turn to that book for everything?"

Randy grinned as he brought the Ninja Nomicon out from his bag and opened it in Howard's locker. His eyes crossed, and his conscious got sucked into the book.

" _Augh!"_

* * *

" _Ahhhh!"_

Randy screamed as he found himself falling. The fall stopped shortly when the boy landed face-flat in the middle of a dojo. He groaned as he stood up, rubbing his head. The paper dojo ceiling above glowed down on him.

"OK, Nomicon," Randy said. "I have this friend named Kuno, and I think she's hiding some secrets from us. Not that I'm curious, but what if they're, oh I don't know, Ninja business important?" He cleared his throat. "The point is, we need to get some answers from her."

The Nomicon glowed again, as suddenly, four samurai dropped in on the four corners of the dojo. At first, Randy was confused at why they appeared. And then one samurai brought his sword out and tried slashing it at his head. He yelped and quickly dodged it. If the boy hadn't seen it coming, he would've been Cunningkebab.

"Whoa!"

He kicked away the samurai's sword and two others charged forward. Randy jumped up and onto the samurai's head, as he kicked the other one down with it. He gasped when he remembered the fourth one, and saw that it tried to stab him from behind. His eyes widened when he saw its sword poked out right under his arm.

"Nomicon!" Randy shouted, pushing the sword away. "What the juice?!"

All the samurais stood up again and brought their swords. Rnady yelped and braced for another attack. Instead, they used their swords to form a square blade around him, and Randy read the words that formed on them.

"' _The Ninja that can't see might end up getting hurt'"_ Randy scoffed. _"Yeah_ , that's why I need to know what Kuno is hiding just in case she might not hurt us! But that girl's harmless! I think. Look, we just need to know how to get answers from her."

The Nomicon glowed once more, as if groaning, and the samurais stood back and made way for him. A door appeared, and Randy lit up at the words labeled on it.

"The Art of Sneaking! Basic Ninja biz! That's what we're talking about!"

Randy opened the door and a long scroll came up at his face. He rubbed his head and stared at the long list. "Wow. Is there really this much to know about how to sneak up on someone?" Glow. "All right, all right, I'll skim it. Blah blah blah smokebomb, blah blah blah don't let anyone see you blah blah blah—oh, nice! I can blend in with my surroundings. OK, got it!"

The samurai from earlier slashed his sword from behind Randy's back, and there was flash.

* * *

The teen boy got up from the Nomicon and quickly closed it. "Oh good, you're back," Howard said. "Perfect timing, we're just about to be _late_ for Gym."

"We're not going to Gym, Howard!"

"Really? That is a _relief,_ I did not want to deal with Coach Green's—wait, if we're not going to Gym, where are we going."

"The Nomicon said the only way to get answers from Kuno is to sneak ourselves into her life."

"Huh?"

"We have to get answers from her _secretly._ But what is the right way to do that…"

"I don't know. All we know is that she's at Gym now. And we know for a fact we _don't_ know where she lives."

"Howard, that's it!"

"What, go to her house?"

"No, we have to sneak into the Girls' Gym class! Or better yet, sneak into the Girls' locker room!"

" _What?!_ That is the worst idea you ever came up with! There is no way I'm—"

* * *

"—letting you talk me into this, how did you do that so fast?!"

Before Howard knew it, he and Randy were standing behind some lockers. Randy peeked out and saw the door to the Girls' locker room, looking around to make sure no one was around.

"OK, everyone's at class. The coast is clear, and we can—"

"Cunningham! This isn't worth it! Are we really risking our reputations for knowing the secrets of some girl?"

Randy chuckled as he patted his best friend's shoulder. "Howard, Howard, Howard. We're not just learning the secrets of one girl. But we'll be learning the secrets of _all_ girls! Who _knows_ what deep and juicy secrets we could find in there?"

"Yeaaah, still not worth it. We're talking about _girls_ here, Cunningham! We're _bros_ that aren't supposed to care about what stupid, females talk about behind us men—"

"We could find out about the secret boyfriends your sister's been hiding behind your family's backs."

" _I'm in!"_

Randy smirked proudly as he brought his Ninja mask out and quickly put it on. Once the suit started to wrap around, the Ninja struck his pose.

" _Smokebomb!"_

* * *

Once the two were inside, Randy pressed his back against a locker. He quickly looked around in case for any signs of people. "All good," he whispered.

"I don't even know why you need to 'sneak'," Howard muttered. "There's _no one here."_

"You never know…"

"This is getting ridiculous, Ninja—!"

"Shhh, someone might hear you…" Howard was just about ready to explode.

The Girls' locker room was nothing like the Boys'. It was clean, organized, and well…girly. All the lockers practically looked exactly the same. It was going to take forever to find the ones they were looking for.

"Better get started, huh?" Howard said.

The two spread out, opening each locker up, one by one (why they weren't even locked, no one knows). Using his ninja speed, Randy was able to open an entire row at once. So far, he didn't find anything useful…

"Well, this is hopeless."

"Hey, look!" Howard exclaimed. "Finally found my sister's locker!" He seemed to be giggling to himself as he leafed through some photographs. "You were so right! Secret boyfriends! Who knew she dated Mick?"

Randy turned to his best friend, an eyebrow raised. "Mick? Mick Moe? As in, Bash's Mick? They dated?"

"For like, eighteen hours! Geez, Heidi, what happened to taste? Oh, hey check this out! Debbie Kang's locker! You can totally smell the Mexican Death Bears and journalism. Isn't there anything else she thinks about?"

"Oh? And why do _you_ care, Weinerman?" You could almost see the smirk behind his mask.

Howard tried to avoid eye contact. "Oh, hey, what, I don't care, don't care at all—Look, Theresa Fowler's! Twirling sticks and Randy!"

Randy found himself blushing now. "Dude! Not cool!"

"What?" Howard was smirking now. "Aren't you interested at all?"

"OK, stop. I'm not here to sneak around."

"I thought that's—"

"We're here to look for _Kuno's_ secrets! Now stop snooping and let me—"

"Ninja? Howard?"

The boys froze when they looked up at the Gym door to see Theresa standing there. She was wearing Gym clothes and a very confused expression. "What are you two…"

"Oh, hey!" Randy greeted, rather awkwardly. "Hi, um…Theresa Fowler, was it? Yeah, there's a completely logical explanation for this…"

"And just so you know the Ninja dragged me in on this!" Howard said quickly.

"OK, maybe that's true but like I said, explanation!"

Theresa frowned. "Um…OK?"

"See, the thing is, we were just, uh…checking for monsters! Yeah, there have been a lot of spies around these days, and I asked this…boy to help me out!"

"Spies? In school?"

When the Ninja nudged Howard, he grumbled. "Yeah…spies…in school…what he said."

Theresa stared for a moment, blinking at the two, before she shuddered and bit her lip. "Sounds serious! Is there anything I can do to help?"

Randy silently thanked the gods she believed him and smiled behind his mask. "Well, you can forget all this ever happened and go one pretending you never saw us here."

"That's a weird way to be of assistance, but sure!" Theresa smiled awkwardly. "I guess if you want that to happen, you need to leave?"

The Ninja shook out of his daze, blushing slightly. "Right, right! Come on…boy."

"Really, Ninja? You could at least learn my name," Howard scoffed.

" _Smokebomb!"_

* * *

"Well, that was completely worthless," Randy sighed as they walked down the halls. Gym class finally ended, and they were on their way to their final class.

"Nah, not really," Howard shrugged. "We did get to sneak around the Girls' locker room, I got to know something about my sister, I saw _you_ act all wonk in front of Fowler…the only side-track from this was that you were the Ninja and that we're probably gonna be completely shoobed for skipping Gym."

" _And._ We didn't even get to find anything about Kuno! And to make things worse, something's up with McFist..."

"Like what?"

"Like why hasn't he been attacking the past two weeks? It's weird..."

"Don't you mean good? I mean, it makes things better for the Ninja."

"It's suspicious! Just like Kuno...Now we'll never know what she's hiding from us…"

"Cunningham, you're delusional. What could the _new girl_ be _hiding?"_

"Isn't that the point about new kids? When you're new, nobody knows anything about you."

"Yeah, uh-huh, real nice. Face it, Cunningham. Kuno Ichi is just a regular, normal girl just like everyone e—"

"Do you hear something?"

Music. 8-bit music. And it was faint. Almost like it was being downloaded or something. A voice was softly singing to the music.

 **(A/N: This song's called Electric Angel! English lyrics are by Hiro Muse. Listen to her collaboration of this song with Justice, it's awesome! ^^)**

 _I love to sing, 'specially if it's for you  
_ _Yet the reason is not merely 'cause I'm meant to function that way  
_ _You always said that you really liked my voice  
_ _And it makes me so happy that I can just replay_

"It's coming from there," Randy said, pointing. They turned towards the music and saw the door to the janitor's closet. It was slightly open, as if someone just entered it.

 _In my database, it always was the same  
_ _But you taught me new meanings that I easily comprehend  
_ _So from that day on, my feelings over flew just for you  
_ _Patiently I'm waiting for you to call my name_

The boys crept up to it and slowly opened the door. A dim light hit their eyes and they gasped at what they saw.

 _I don't care where I am just as long as I'm with you  
_ _As my digital heart will wonder what to do  
_ _Please just sweep me away like a gale force of wind  
_ _And my heart will return from its déjà vu_

Kuno was sitting on a box in the room. Her eyes were closed, as if she was concentrating on something. The light seemed to be coming from her chest and their eyes widened when they saw it open. A long wire was extended from her metal heart and connected to Kuno's phone. The music continued to play, but it was slowly dying down as the boys continued to stare. The light from her heart also died down as she opened her eyes. And at that moment, Randy finally saw the pixels stay in her pupils a little bit longer than usual. The sight he saw now proved it.

"Download completed," the robot girl said in her usual voice. "Scanning area. Two life forms have been recognized." As she blinked, she turned to the door and stared blankly at the boys. "Identity has been discovered."

The boys could only stare some more with their jaws dropped open. And now, only one thing was on their minds.

What.

The.

Juice.

* * *

 **Nothing to comment except that I might not update in a while, I hope I get better stats by the time I do, pleaseplease please leave a review or favorite all that, and see you in the next chaps~**


	4. My Pet Robot

**Chapter 4: My "Pet" Robot**

* * *

 **And so this Monday I go to hell.**

 **Haha just kidding, first day of school is coming up! I'm so dreading it, which means, I'm not gonna be updating in a while. Not like it matters -3-**

 **But I'm going to secretly be writing the next chapters in my notebook while the teacher isn't looking~ This fanfic will never die! I especially thought this certain chapter title was funny for my taste xD Anyway, to those who _do_ like this story, hope you guys enjoy it and read on~ Favorite this if you can? :)**

* * *

"Sooo, Kuno," Randy said slowly, as he closed the closet door behind him. "What's with this…? You're—"

"Dude, you're a _robot?!"_ Howard exclaimed. Then he hesitated. "Yeah, we should have seen this coming. I mean, all that talk about data, being on time…"

"My apologies," Kuno said, still blank. She unplugged the wire and closed her heart panel. "I cannot help that I have been programmed this way. I was made to pass off as the perfect schoolgirl. I must not have been created perfectly."

"What are you sorry for? This is bruce! Hey, this is just like that time when Franz Nukid came around—"

"Yeah, and he tried to destroy m—the Ninja?" Randy scoffed. "And speaking of…Kuno, do you mind if we ask you a few questions?"

"Certainly."

"Why exactly are you here? I mean…who _are_ you?"

Kuno stared for a while at the two. The pixels in her eyes were analyzing again before she blinked them away. "Very well. It is time you know the truth."

The two boys sat down, prepared to listen.

"My name is Kuno Ichi. Serial number MF626-14. I was created a long time ago; from a time I do not recall when. My creator apparently believed I was not a perfect model. He disposed of me. There was an accident, that involved technical difficulties and exposed electricity, which I have later discovered was because of the Ninja. Because of that, I was revived. And I therefore chose to find sanctuary here. I do not have any data of my past self. Much less know who my creator is. So I started a life as a Norrisville High student."

"Whoa," Randy gasped. "So you're here on your own? Awww!"

"How can anyone take you out?" Howard wiped away a fake tear. "You're great at doing homework!"

"So, wait, you're _not_ Japanese?"

"No. I was only programmed to speak the language."

"Aaand, all this time you talked about parents and being busy…all that was a lie?"

"Naturally. I have collected data on how a normal teenage girl would act. Anything I said about myself was unquestionably untrue. I am still not the perfect robot. I have much data to gather. That is why I am in school."

"So…what was all that talk about Ninja business?"

"It is still important for my data. He is the one that managed to revive me after all. It is important I know how the Ninja works."

"Heeey, Kuno. Calm your pixels. The Ninja is not a robot too. And good luck with that! I'm sure you'll know who it is soon." Randy chuckled and silently winked at Howard.

"Yes. It must be so."

"Hold on, then where do you sleep?"

"I have my ways." Randy decided not to ask. "Now that you know everything, I must highly request you keep my secret safe."

"Don't worry, robot girl!" Howard said proudly.

"Please refrain from calling me that."

"Your secret will be kept in our brains. Unless you know, someone gets a mind reader. I do _not_ want to go through that again."

"Very well. Now, I believe it is time you get to class."

As usual, the bell rang as if on cue. "That's never gonna be a mystery now!"

"Wait, we have the same math class together," Randy said. "Aren't you going to follow?"

"I might be late. But there is no need to worry about me. I am, after all, a robot."

The two boys glanced at each other and silently left the room, choosing not to say anything else.

Kuno continued to sit on the box as she closed her eyes and opened her heart panel again. The gears in her head literally turned. Her database was ready to do upon command. She opened her eyes again, and they were glowing a little, as her mind began making a few…changes.

"Commencing external memory alteration."

* * *

Luckily for them, it was a Wednesday. It wasn't long before Friday came around. There were two days of more homework duties for Kuno. Two days for Randy and Howard to think. They definitely believed Kuno wasn't working for Viceroy. And Viceroy, for some reason, did not know about their knowledge of the robot girl. Something was up, but nobody knew yet.

In the meantime, the boys had other plans on their minds. During lunch that Friday, Kuno was sitting with the two, as usual. "So what do you do on the weekends?" Howard asked, apparently still psyched about having a robot as a classmate.

"I shut down until Monday."

"That's it? You don't do any bruce robot stuff?"

"With my sole purpose to just be in school, I have no other reason to live."

"You know Kuno," Randy said. "If a normal person said that, it would be just sad."

"But it is the truth. I know nothing else. And I do not technically know what a normal teenage girl does outside of the learning system."

"Shopping, gossip, sunshine and rainbows?" Kuno only blinked at that. "Why are you asking _us?_ We're manly men! We don't know what girls do?"

"I just assumed. After all, you did go into the Girls' Locker room."

"How did you know that?!" Howard exploded. "Ugh, see, this is why you can't trust Fowler!"

"There were no rumors. I was merely overhearing what you two were talking about yesterday. You were inevitably loud."

"…Well played, Kuno Ichi. Well played."

"So, you know _nothing_ of being a teenager?"

"Shopping, gossip, sunshine and rainbows? I have yet to research on that."

Randy suddenly broke into a wide grin. "Kuno Ichi, you are in for a treat! You found the right teachers to teach you! Lucky you don't do anything on the weekends."

"I do not think I understand what you are saying."

"You. Howard. Me. We're having a Night-Out!"

"All right!" Howard cheered, high-fiving his best friend. "So honking bruce!"

Kuno stared blankly again. "Night-Out?"

"Well, I _would_ call it Boys' Night-Out, but you're not a boy, are you?"

"I am technically just an object with a learning chip."

"We're gonna go crazy later! Just you wait. _We_ are going to teach you the meaning of _fun."_

"RandyHoward style!" The two boys did their bro slap.

Kuno nodded. "I look forward to that. In Japanese, _sensei_ is what we call teacher. Therefore, you are my _senseis_ , correct?"

" _Hei!"_

"What?"

"Isn't that Japanese for yes?"

"…"

* * *

When school was over, the first stop was apparently Randy's house. "Why are we in your place of residence? Is your idea of fun to do homework?"

There was a bit of silence for a while. Then, the two boys burst out laughing, leaving Kuno expressionless again. Once it died down, Randy cleared his throat and regained composition.

"No, my student. This is where the beginning of fun happens. And the beginning of fun has one name: _Grave Puncher!"_

The purple-haired teen gestured to his television, where his gaming console was already set up. The Grave Puncher CD was already inside, and the introduction of the two boys' favorite game appeared on the screen. The "Start" button was just waiting to be pressed.

"I have been informed of such devices," Kuno said after a while. "It is called a video game, correct?"

"Precisely! One of the most brucetastic ways to have fun!"

"Each game has a different theme," Howard explained. "Consisted with levels filled with honking grave-punching awesomeness!"

Kuno hummed a bit as her eyes begin to glow again. She appeared to be scanning the game in front of her. "According to my data, there is some information in the game that can be acted upon certain movements and commands, therefore making it rather straightforward and effortless."

"Say what."

"There are cheats in this game, yes? Would that not make the game easy?"

"Easy, you say?" Randy smirked. "Oh, contraire, my young robot. You must prepare your little learning chip because it is _game on."_

"I'm gonna be generous this one time and let you take my console," Howard offered. "But only because I want to see you _going down."_

Kuno's deep eyes stared back at him. "We shall see about that."

She and Randy each took a console as he then pressed "Start". The game had begun, and Kuno listened to the intro and instructions. Her dark eyes glowed again, as she scanned the game.

" _Begin!"_

Fingers flew across the consoles, pressing buttons left and right. Lights from the television were blaring as the two played the apparently stressful game. Randy had his focusing face on, while Kuno kept her blank expression. It was hard to tell if she was even trying. Halfway through, she did a little series of pressing on the buttons, and the character she was playing suddenly followed her command. Howard gasped when he realized what she'd done.

"You're _kicking graves?!_ But that's impossible! That can only be done in the other games!"

"Is that so…" Kuno did not lose her concentration as she continued to play.

Round after round, she was did not leave her spot. She did not leave the zone. Round after round, she played beside Randy, until a couple of hours later, they appeared to be done.

" _Congratulations. You have punched all the graves."_

"Aw, yes!" Randy cheered. He and Howard did their bro slap.

"Come on, Kuno!" Howard encouraged. "Didn't you think that was fun?"

The robot girl looked up at the boys, her blank expression still on. "It was certainly more challenging than I had expected. I have not come across anything like this, and I have to say that the experience was rather pleasant."

"Say what."

"…It was a _little_ fun."

"Then you're in for a whole lot more!"

"There is more?"

"Of course! Come on! If you liked Grave Puncher, you'll _love_ this!"

* * *

"I did not think it was possible for me to gather so much data."

Where else did you think they took her? Of course, none other than Greg's Game Hole?

"Ehh? Ehh?" Randy grinned. "What do you think? Pretty bruce right?"

"I still do not understand that term. But I would definitely like to try all these games."

"Too bad, Kuno," Howard said. "My mind is begging to get started as well, but my stomach is just dying to get some grub. Frankly, I listen to my stomach more."

"Grub?"

"He means food," Randy took Kuno by the wrist. "Come on! This place isn't just filled with gaming goodness."

The boys now dragged her over to the Food Hole. Luckily, they found a table for three and Randy quickly went to the counter to order some food. Kuno was still slightly confused on why she was there, but she chose not to say a word yet. She just hoped they would understand, especially when Randy had returned with heaping trays of nachos and pizza.

"Bon appetite! Or whatever they say in Japan."

"Finally! I'm starving." Howard took a giant slice of pepperoni pizza, topped nachos onto it, and practically swallowed it whole.

As Randy bit into his own slice, he raised an eyebrow when he saw Kuno not moving. "You're not going to have any?"

"…Randy…"

"... _Oh right_ you can't…yeah." If Kuno knew how to facepalm, she probably would have done so. "Well that's just sad…what _do_ robots eat?"

"We do not technically _eat_ anything. Electricity and oil is all we need to survive."

"Oil?" Howard echoed. "Is that what you've been drinking the entire time at lunch?"

"Yes."

The boy now looked ready to hurl. "OK, no wonder it tasted bad."

"You drank my oil?"

"It was just as sip!"

"Hm. I guess that will explain why I could not find it last Thursday…"

"Oil, hmm…" Randy tapped his chin. "Does oil have flavor?"

"I suppose it does. I do not technically _taste_ it. The chemicals just appear in my head and slightly power my system."

"Then I think I've got it! Do you have some oil with you?"

Kuno reached into her small sling bag and brought out her bagged oilcan for the day. "I was supposedly saving it for later."

"Too bad, you gotta drink it now!" Randy popped the can open and tried to ignore the overwhelmingly foul smell it emitted. He crushed some cheese-coated nachos and sprinkled them through the hole. He took some pizza bits and added them to the mix. After some vigorous shaking with a napkin, he handed it back to the robot girl.

"Bon appetite again!"

"Aw, Cunningham!" Howard gagged. "What did you do to nature?!"

"Added it with the opposite and let Kuno enjoy. If you like oil, then have a taste of this kind!"

The robot stared at her drink for a long while, staring inside the murky mix as if scanning again. _"Itadakimasu,"_ she muttered. With her blank expression still on, she took a sip.

Suddenly, at that very moment, the boys watched for the first time ever as her eyes popped wide open.

"How is it?"

They really couldn't tell if she was enjoying or not. She just continued to stare into the ceiling with her eyes open, with this weird look of both amazement and horror. It just stayed like that for a few more seconds until it returned to its blank state.

"I suppose it is all right."

When she took another sip, Howard turned to Randy. "That's rather brief, but I'll take it!" They did yet another bro slap.

"I will never understand that movement you do with your hands."

"Oh, this?" Randy smirked. "It's our bro slap! Specifically just for the two of us bros."

"Buuut I guess if you can keep up with it, we can teach you. It starts like this…"

They attempted to do it step by step, but even the slow version while sitting down was hard. When they finished, Kuno just stared again.

"I will never understand that movement you do with your hands."

The two boys began to laugh. "You just said that!" Randy chuckled. "OK, we'll just do a little brofist, that all right?"

"Brofist?"

"Yeah, you just gotta kinda…make a fist and then…bump it."

When Kuno made a fist, Randy reached over and bumped it with his own. Howard did the same thing. The robot blinked, opening and closing her hand repeatedly. "Brofist…it has now been added to my database."

"Cool" Howard grinned. "We got a girl bro. If that's even possible!"

"I have to ask. Does this term 'bro' refer to another way of saying 'friend'? Because I have not learned the term in my database."

"Way to go, Kuno! Cunningham, she's learning!"

"And now I'm starting to think," Randy mused. "Your name, Kuno Ichi. Has that always been your name?"

"Yes. That was the name my creator had given me."

"Well, it's not…you know…that brucetastic."

"Hm?"

"It's wonk, dude, get over it," Howard put in.

"You cannot blame me. I was also created with the way of a female ninja. In Japan, female ninjas are called Kunoichis. I was literally named Kuno Ichi."

The two boys stared at her, blinking, for a little while longer. "…OK then? Now that you have _no_ creator, you deserve a brucer name!"

"A new name?"

"Yeah!" Howard agreed. "Like Honking Bruce! Or Bruce McCheese!"

"Or Randy Cunningham?" the purple-haired teen joked.

"Pardon, but those are all boys' names. If you must insist on giving me a new name, try forming one out of the one I already ha—"

"I got it!" Howard exclaimed. _"Kin!"_

"Kin?" Kuno and Randy echoed.

"Yeah, I don't know it just popped into my head."

"Why, Kin?"

"Because you know! Her first name, Kuno, last name Ichi…put the I in between the K and N…I know it's stupid don't judge me."

"I like it," Kuno mused. "It sounds…nice."

"Well if you like it, we're all up for it!" Randy patted the girl's shoulder. "Kin…huh! Nice one, Howard."

"Yep, I know, I'm a genius!"

"It'll be your little nickname from us. Now, let's go have more fun!"

And so, the three teens plunged themselves into the Game Hole.

* * *

 _~Three hours later (because I'm too lazy to write actual things happening~)~_

"That was so—"

"Bruce?" Kuno questioned. The two boys stared at her in amazement before grinning wildly.

" _Yeah!"_

The two boys laughed as they all bro-fisted. Even Kuno got the hang of it already. "We totally crashed it in there!" Randy hooted. "Kin, you played like, _every game."_

"I had to find the system that matched my standards."

"Totally a night of brucetastic fun!" Howard pumped his fist in the air.

"Yes…it was…fun." Out from the corner of her mouth, Kuno turned away and smiled to herself.

Either Randy noticed, or he was just plain proud, because he grinned madly. "We should do this more often!" He frowned when he stared up at the dark sky. "Ah, but it's getting late, shouldn't we get home?"

"Yeah, my mom's probably gonna kill me when she knows I—"

"Guys," Kuno interrupted. "Do you hear something?"

The two boys looked at each other and shrugged. "We don't have your ears, Kin."

"It's coming from over there."

As she walked ahead, the boys had no choice but to follow.

The more they walked, the more the boys realized she was hearing music. And as they got closer, Randy realized how much he recognized the person singing.

 _We're like bros, yo!  
(We're like bros, yo!)  
_ _We're like bros, yo!  
_ _(We're like bros, yo!)_

"That sounds like…" he started.

"Look."

When Kuno pointed, Randy resisted the urge to groan. It was just Bash Johnson and his gang again, singing that infamous song they said that they loved to sing so much. And what's worse that there was a crowd actually listening.

 _We're like bros, yo!  
(We're like bros, yo!)  
_ _We're like bros, yo!  
_ _(We're like bros, yo!)_

"That is the stepson of Hannibal McFist, yes?" Kuno asked.

"Yeah," Randy sighed. "Guess they'll never stop getting at it. Come on, Howard, let's—"

"Nah, I dunno, I kinda still wanna listen." Howard was actually nodding his head to the beat, enjoying the "music" Bash was making. "Remember when they entered the talent show—"

"Yeah, I get it. Come on, Kin—Wait, Kin?"

He looked around and stared in horror when he saw the robot girl walking up to the performance. "Kin?!"

 _We're like bros, yo!  
(We're like bros, yo!)  
_ _We're like bros, yo!  
_ _(We're like bros, yo!)_

Once Bash finished, he jumped up, and stomped on his turntables. Again. Just like last time. He cheered for himself, pumping his hands up. "Yeah! Go us!"

Only Kuno was not impressed by this action. "Is this what you call music? All you are doing is destroying your belongings and repeating the same words."

The audience that stood and watched let out an "Oooh"

"You again?" Bash glared. "What's the matter with yous? You wanna get beaten up?"

"This time, I am only here to show you what _real_ music is."

"What? What are you talking about?"

Randy and Howard quickly ran up front and the purple-haired teen laughed nervously. "So sorry, Bash, our friend here just kinda got out of control—"

"No, I am not. I mean what I'm saying."

"This is my stage! Get off of it!"

"My apologies, Bash, but I must request _you_ get off." More "oooh"s.

" _You messin with me?!'_

"You already asked that."

"…What? Did I?"

"I do not know with you."

"I don't know! Stop confusing me!"

"Then you better step away then."

"OK!"

Before Bash could even realize what was happening, he had dragged his crew away from them, much to their confusion. Randy and Howard stared and slowly grinned in amusement, especially when the crowd cheered slightly.

Kuno picked up a guitar that was just lying there and quickly strapped it on. She glanced over her shoulder and at her two friends. "I just might need your help on this one."

With a cock of her head, they turned to see a keytar and drum set just lying there too. Understanding, the boys laughed as they quickly got to position. The crowd cheered, seeing a new performance commencing.

"1, 2, 3, 4!"

 _Some legends are told  
_ _Some turn to dust or to gold  
_ _But you will remember me  
_ _Remember me for centuries  
_ _And just one mistake  
_ _Is all it will take  
_ _We'll go down in history  
_ _Remember me for centuries_

 _(He-e-e-ey ya, oh he-e-e-ey  
_ _He-e-e-ey ya)_

 _Remember me for centuries_

 _Kuno: Mummified my teenage dreams  
_ _No, it's nothing wrong with me  
_ _The kids are all wrong  
_ _The story's all off  
_ _Heavy metal broke my (All: Heart!)_

 _Come on, come on and let me in  
_ _The bruises on your thighs like my fingerprints  
_ _And this is supposed to match  
_ _The darkness that you felt  
_ _I never meant for you to fix yourself_

 _(All: Du du du-du, du du du-du  
_ _Du du du-du, du du du-du  
_ _Du du...)_

 _All: Some legends are told  
_ _Some turn to dust or to gold  
_ _But you will remember me  
_ _Remember me for centuries  
_ _And just one mistake  
_ _Is all it will take  
_ _We'll go down in history  
_ _Remember me for centuries_

 _(He-e-e-ey ya, oh he-e-e-ey  
_ _He-e-e-ey ya)_

 _Remember me for centuries_

 _Kuno: And I can't stop 'til the whole world knows my name  
_ _'Cause I was only born inside my dreams  
_ _Until you die for me, as long as there's a light, my shadow's over you  
_ _'Cause I, I am the opposite of amnesia_

 _And you're a cherry blossom  
_ _You're about to bloom  
_ _You look so pretty, but you're gone so soon_

 _(All: Du du du-du, du du du-du  
_ _Du du du-du, du du du-du  
_ _Du du...)_

 _All: Some legends are told  
_ _Some turn to dust or to gold  
_ _But you will remember me  
_ _Remember me for centuries  
_ _And just one mistake  
_ _Is all it will take  
_ _We'll go down in history  
_ _Remember me for centuries_

 _(He-e-e-ey ya, oh he-e-e-ey  
_ _He-e-e-ey ya)_

 _Remember me for centuries_

 _Kuno, Randy, Howard: We've been here forever  
_ _And here's the frozen proof  
_ _I could scream forever  
_ _We are the poisoned youth_

 _(All: Du du du-du, du du du-du  
_ _Du du du-du, du du du-du  
_ _Du du...)_

 _All: Some legends are told  
_ _Some turn to dust or to gold  
_ _But you will remember me  
_ _Remember me for centuries  
_ _And just one mistake  
_ _Is all it will take  
_ _We'll go down in history  
_ _Remember me for centuries_

 _(He-e-e-ey ya, oh he-e-e-ey  
_ _He-e-e-ey ya)_

 _Remember me for centuries_

 _We'll go down in history  
_ _Remember me for centuries_

Once the song ended, the three realized the crowd had become a little larger. Everyone cheered loudly as they ended their performance. Bash was glaring at them in the background. Randy and Howard were grinning as they did a brofist with Kuno. From the corner of Randy's eye, he saw a certain shorthaired girl in the crowd. Theresa sighed dreamily and got the courage to wave at him from there. Randy blinked in surprise before waving and smiling back.

Kuno, however, was smiling for everyone as she bowed for them. It was hard to tell if this smile was fake…or now sincerely genuine.

* * *

That night, Kuno was walking to McFist Industries. Otto was there to greet her as usual, nuzzling its little body against hers. Kuno patted its head as she smiled. Ever-so-slightly.

"Hello, Otto. I have brought you something…pizza-flavored oil. I suggest you try it. It could be good for your system." Otto only buzzed happily as he took his nightly oilcan from her.

"Kuno?" Viceroy questioned, turning back from his work. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, Master. I am well."

"You never greet Otto…like that. And what is pizza-flavored oil?"

"It is something I tried today. With my new _senseis."_

"You have... _senseis?"_

"Yes. They have been teaching me how to 'have fun'."

"…They don't suspect you being a robot, do they?"

"Oh no, Master. They just think I am not having fun."

"…Hmph. If you say so. Now get on the table. Your data has been lowering! Have you found any suspects on who the Ninja could be?"

"I have a few, Master, but some of the data is uncertain. They all give me false leads."

"It's been three weeks, Kuno! You need to give me answers!"

"Do not worry, Master. I still have some suspicions. In fact, tomorrow, I must request you deploy a monster in the morning. I will spy on my suspects and see what I can come up with."

"And you are certain this will give you an answer?"

"76.9% certain."

"…I guess I'll go for it. But I do not want you to come back until you have the Ninja's identity!"

The words were harsh, and if Kuno could feel it, she would probably feel hurt. "... _Wakarimashita."_

"Do _not_ fail me, child."

"Yes, Master." Then, Kuno paused. "Master...if you must insist upon this, I have a request."

"What is it now?"

"One of my acquaintances has invited me to sleep over at his house."

"A sleepover?" Viceroy turned to the girl on the wall and raised an eyebrow. "You do know what a sleepover is, right Kuno?"

" _Hai._ I have done a bit of research on it, and I am positive with its meaning."

"But what if they suspect you're a—"

"There is nothing to worry about, Master. He has allowed me to, as I recall his words 'crash over at his place.' I am sure I can come up with many solutions. After all, you created me to be that way."

She had complimented him as usual, but Viceroy was still hesitant. "Well…if you say you can do it…oh, why not? I can never say no to my greatest creation."

The mechanical arms that usually restrained had released her, and Kuno closed her heart panel herself. _"Arigatou gozaimasu, goshujin_. I will see you in the morning."

"Be careful, child! I expect better results next time we meet."

"Of course, Master." Otto watched as Kuno took her stuff again and started to leave the building. The small robot was a little uneasy, but it could never say that. Instead, it just watched his robot friend leave.

" _Ittekimasu."_

* * *

 **I just want to thank Nomi Norisu for being a true fan and thank Elcall for being a true senpai :3**

 **I'll try to update as soon as possible, and I hope this chapter was good! I hope I get more readers too. As said before, don't be afraid to leave a review or favorite, or at least tell me what you think! _Arigatou gozaimasu~ :D_ **_**Matta ne~**_


	5. Scanning and Song-Writing

**Chapter 5: Scanning and Song-Writing**

* * *

 **Hello people-that-read-this-story!**

 **I apologize for the sort-of-late update, but I'm not here now! Thanks again to new ridaas/fans and I hope there will be more~ Not much to say now actually, it's just been a rough few days. All rights belong to their owners in this chapter! (Am I saying it right lol) Hope you enjoy~**

* * *

Randy was sleeping peacefully in his bed that morning, until his alarm beeped and told him to get up. He groaned as he sat up groggily in his bed and turned to his room. "'Morning, Kin—"

He expected the robot to be there where he'd left her last night, but Kuno was not in her corner. "…Kin?"

He immediately got off and got dressed, heading downstairs to search for his friend. "Kuno?!" he called out.

" _Hai?"_

Randy turned to the kitchen and almost sighed in relief when he saw the robot girl by the stove. "Oh, thank cheese, I thought someone stole you or something!"

Kuno blinked. "That would be implausible. I am created with a defense mechanism. If I were to be stolen, you would have known by now."

"…OK, then? So, what are you cooking?"

"To be honest, I do not know myself. I scanned you last night for your favorite meal and made this."

"Hold on, you _scanned_ me?"

"The ingredients were difficult to recover, for some of them were unhealthy for human life forms. But I was able to improve the recipe and came up with—"

" _Gravy fries?!"_ Randy gasped once he saw the big plate full of the said fries. He practically ran over to the dining table and stuffed his "favorite meal" into his mouth. "Oh, so good…Kin, you are the _cheese!"_

"I cannot be made of cheese. I am a robot."

"No, I…never mind, this is awesome!"

"I also did something simpler and poured a bowl of cereal." She gestured back to the table and showed how she prepared a bowl of McFistios for him."

"I'll stick with the fries, but thanks."

If Kuno could roll her eyes, she probably would.

* * *

Randy and the robot met up with Howard and they walked to school. The boys continued their constant joking, Kuno was rather silent. She was patiently waiting for Viceroy's next attack. She could never go back to McFist Industries unless she had the Ninja's identity. Her fate had to be decided soon. Once they were at school, she was more distracted than usual.

"Kin?" Randy questioned. "Are you all right?"

"I believe I am. Why do you ask?"

"Uh, you almost opened your heart panel in public."

Kuno blinked when she looked down at her chest and realized she accidentally unzipped her jacket. She blinked more before zipping it back on. _"Gomenasai."_

"Yo, Kin," Howard said. "You all right? You seem…off."

"I am fine. I am supposed to be."

"Yeah, you don't seem like it."

"Rest assured. There is no need to worry about me."

"Sure there is. Are you expecting something?" Randy asked.

"..." Kuno stayed silent, for the first time ever, unable to answer that. The two boys looked at each other nervously.

And at that very moment, they heard a roar. Followed by screaming. Then they came in contact with frantic students running out of the school. And then they saw the giant robot dog outside the school.

"Whoa!" Howard gasped. "A robot! Sweet! We haven't seen those things in a while!"

"Looks like it's n—" Randy cut himself off when he realized Kuno was still there. "It's…now…time to hog the bathroom again! While the Ninja's fighting that robot…" Kuno only blinked in confusion.

"Well, go on!" Howard shouted, making shooing motions. Randy quickly ran off, leaving a still confused Kuno. "…Say Kuno, why don't we go watch Ninja action outside!"

"…All right."

Howard pushed the robot girl and Kuno watched as the robot dog practically tore the school apart. It was growling, as it broke through the building and used vehicles as chew toys.

" _My car!"_ Slimotvitz shrieked. "Hey! It's been a while since I said that!"

" _Smokebomb!"_ Everyone cheered when the Ninja had appeared before the robot. "OK, doggy. Let's take you out for some exercise."

The robot dog growled and charged.

" _Ninja tripping balls!"_ The Ninja moved away as the robo-dog yelped as it crashed into a tree. It seemed to be angered by that as it took that very tree and flung it.

"Whoa-oh. _Ninja Tengu Fireball!"_ The tree, however, was only a distraction, as the dog charged again and head-butted the Ninja into the school wall. Everyone "oooh"ed and winced at the intact.

"I do not need to analyze the situation to know he got hurt," Kuno said. But when she turned to her side, she realized Howard was not there. Instead, he had, for some reason, run up to the Ninja.

"Ninja!" he shouted, picking him up. "You're getting your butt whooped!"

"I know, I know! Give me a second." As the Ninja ran towards the action again, Kuno looked at Howard.

"You have interacted with the Ninja again."

"Ahaha…yeah! As I said, we _are_ pretty close."

"I must get closer to him."

"Nah, let's face it, it's gonna take a lot to actually be close with the Ninja, I mean with his popularity and all—"

"No. I need to go closer to him. So I may examine him."

"Wait, what are you—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Kuno lifted her wrist and pressed a button on her red bangle. The black and dark blue silks appeared and began wrapping around her. Her suit appeared once again. Once it was on, she quickly followed the Ninja.

"No, Kuno—!" Too late.

The Ninja now attempted in throwing things at the robot dog. _"Ninja ring, ninja ring, ninja ring!"_ Unfortunately, the robot dog dodged them all. It lunged itself at Randy, and opened his jaws.

" _Ninja dodge!_ Ah!" He did manage to move away, but not fast enough for the robot to bite away a piece of his suit. Randy winced as he held his arm. Blood dripped from it and fell onto the grass.

With Randy distracted, the robot-dog came pounding in and tossed him into the air. It lifted its snout and opened its jaws again.

" _Whoa!"_

Once again, Kuno had arrived just in time. She swooped in using her own scarf and quickly caught the Ninja. They landed back onto the ground with Kuno holding the Ninja bridal style. She looked down at him with a blank expression.

"It appears that I did not make myself clear last time."

"Uh…" Randy just stared, dumbfounded that the robot had saved him again and immediately recognized their position. The moment he got out of her arms, the robot dog howled.

"You have to get to safety, girl," he commanded.

"It is my sole purpose to help you."

"No, you just want to find out my identity!"

"…How do you know that?"

Realizing his mistake, Randy mentally slapped himself. "Oh, um…didn't you say?"

He saw the dog charging again and decided this conversation was not important. He swung off and went to deal with the robot by himself. From then, Kuno noticed something on the ground and bent for a closer scan. It was the Ninja's blood.

 _Jackpot._

"Hello, Norrisville, it's your girl Heidi Me-Casting Live in front of some epic Ninja action!" Kuno looked up and was slightly confused to find the Norrisville reporter and Howard's sister, standing beside her. "I'm here with the new girl, as some of you know as our Female Ninja Singer, and Savior of the Ninja. Twice! What was your name again?"

If Kuno knew how to deadpan, which she did, she would've done it (which she was). Did they seriously not know her name until now? "Kuno Ichi. My name is Kuno Ichi."

"Well Kuno, how does it feel to save the Ninja a second time? You're a hero of a hero!"

"I do not see myself that way. I only help him whenever he needs it."

"I'd love to ask you more about your music or when your next performance would be, but my viewers want to know! What is your relation with the Ninja?"

Kuno hesitated, as she looked up at the town's hero fighting the robot. He surely had the hang of it now. "Believe me. We do not know much about each other, I'm sure. But surely soon, I will be able to know him a little bit more…"

"There you have it! That's all we'll be hearing from the new hero girl for now! This is Heidi Weinerman signing off!"

" _Ninja Slice!"_ With those final words, the robot dog was cut in half, and collapsed on the floor. The Ninja jumped onto it like a stage, as he waved to his cheering fans.

He then glanced over at Kuno, who seemed to be running back towards the school. A sudden thought came to his mind, and it worried him.

" _Smokebomb!"_

When Randy reunited with Howard at the halls, he looked around frantically. "Have you seen Kin?"

"I dunno. She took off the moment Heidi was done interviewing her."

"Oh, this is bad!"

"Look, I tried to stop her, Cunningham, but I promise I'll do better next time!"

"No, Howard, I shoobed up! The Ninja is supposed to know that she's trying to help him. But _we_ know she's trying to find his identity! I gave that fact away!"

"Whoa! You're right, you _are_ shoobed."

"Randy. Howard."

The two froze and turned to the source of the voice to find Kuno by the janitor's closet. Half her body was inside, as if she was a figure lurking in the shadows. It was hard to tell if she was _trying_ to be mysterious. "We need to talk."

Randy tried smiling. "Suuure, Kin! We were just looking for you."

They reluctantly entered the room with her, and the door slowly closed.

Kuno turned the light on and faced the two boys. Underneath, her blank expression looked slightly more intimidating. She had called them both in, but she seemed to be looking at Randy more. "I was given some very important information today."

"Y-You did?" Randy looked at Howard nervously. The boy only shrugged.

"The Ninja seems to have known that I was trying to find his identity. And I know for fact that this detail was only told to you two."

"O-Oh, well, maybe or maybe not I told someone or—"

"The Ninja's blood was spilled onto the grass earlier by that robot attack, and I took a sample. Based on comparison to the last, most recent scan I performed, I found a match. The most recent scan was yours."

"Pfft, really? Th-That's, well—"

"It is not just this. Secretly, I record every conversation I have and scan the voices as well. And you would not believe that when I scanned yours and the Ninja's, I have, yet again, found another match."

"Wow! Cool, we must have…the same voices…" It was too late now. He was shoobed.

"Randy Cunningham…you are the—"

 _Whack._

Randy stared in horror when the pixels in Kuno's eyes rolled to the back of her head and she collapsed on the floor. _"Howard!"_

The ginger-haired boy stared at the robot on the floor, a mop in his hand held up high, as he blinked for a few moments and let go of it. "It was her fault! She should never have been involved!"

"Why'd you do that?!"

"Come on! She was probably gonna blab your secret!"

"We could've asked her not to! She's our friend!"

"Information from robots can be taken easily! You can't help I wanted to protect this secret!"

"Even so! Oh, she's gonna kill us!"

"Well…she won't have to if she never knew anything."

"What are you talking about?"

Howard quickly turned Kuno over and unzipped her jacket. "Dude, what are you doing."

"Just work with me, Cunningham!" He opened up her heart panel and took the wire from inside her out. Then he brought his phone out as well and connected them. "OK, I just have to look for the Ninja information and delete all of it."

"Howard, do you not understand how _insanely brucetastic that is?_ You're a genius, we should have done this before!"

Howard grinned proudly. "I know, I'm amazing."

He scrolled through his phone, looking through the files, pressed a few buttons… "Aaand, done! You, are welcome."

"Howard, you are so bruce." The two did a quick bro slap. "You think she'll be all right."

"Yeah, pretty sure. She said it herself, she's just a robot."

Randy still frowned at that. He disconnected the wire, closed her heart panel, and zipped her jacket back on. The gears turned again, and Kuno quickly sat up in her seat. She blinked the darkness away and looked up at the two boys. "Randy? Howard?"

"Oh, good, you're fine."

"… _Watashi wa doko desu ka?"_

"Whoa-oh."

"You don't think you deleted her English mode, did you?"

" _Ah, gomenasai._ Where am I?"

"Oh, um…funny story," Randy chuckled nervously. "Howard sort of hit you at the back of your head with a mop."

"…Why?"

"There was um…a spider in your hair!" Howard forced a smile. "Yeah! Don't worry, I got rid of it!"

"…You should have just told me. Spiders have no effect on me."

"Haha…sooo, Kin…what's the last thing you remember?"

"Hmmm," the robot girl hesitated. "The last thing I remember is saving the Ninja again. After that…nothing."

Randy and Howard quickly did a brofist at that.

"Is there a reason I was on the floor in the janitor's closet?"

"Yeah, we had to wash the spider dirt off you," Howard said, taking her shoulder and waving a hand. "No biggie. Now, come on, let's get to class!"

"Strange. You are usually not either to get to class."

"I know right?!" Once she was out the door, Howard glared at Randy. "Cunningham! This _cannot_ happen again."

"You just have to keep her away from me every time the Ninja comes," Randy explained. "We'll tell her the truth when the time is right. Give her a few more weeks 'til we can really trust her."

"Ugh! You had better be right about this. I do _not_ like doing work for nothing."

"You don't like doing work in general!"

"Your point?"

Randy rolled his eyes as they exited the room.

* * *

Kuno did not return to McFist Industries for one full month.

Because she had no information of the Ninja, she couldn't. Randy was willing to let her stay for as long as she wanted to (especially when she paid with gravy fries). Nothing really changed since that day: Kuno continued to perform, she helped with the boys' homework, and they hung out. But now with robots and monsters coming back, Howard had to keep Kuno away from Randy so she couldn't see him being the Ninja. The more days that passed, the more Kuno actually worried. It was worse for Viceroy. There seemed to be something that blocked Kuno's signal. He never knew where to find her. And he couldn't contact her. The very fact practically angered him. But the fact that the Ninja kept winning angered a very old mystical being more.

"You assured me you would find the face of the Ninja!" the Sorcerer howled. "And yet I have not come to see it yet!"

"Ah, don't worry!" McFist said nervously. "My invention is doing it's best to do that."

For once, Viceroy had to say something. "It's _my_ invention. And Kuno _is_ trying. I told her to not come back until she had an answer."

" _You are trying my patience!"_ Annoyed, now, the Sorcerer let out another howl before disappearing.

"VICEROY!" McFist yelled. "Your invention is taking its time! _How much longer until we know who the Ninja is?!"_

Viceroy sighed as he turned to the window. "To be honest, even I do not know…"

At Norrisville High, Kuno was just closing her locker after bringing something out of it. She still had her blank expression on, but now she was staring at the ninja star necklace around her neck. She had exactly one good memory about it, and it was the only good one she had with her creator, Viceroy.

" _Wear this ninja star and carry it with you, in reminder that you will be the one to kill the Ninja!"_

" _The irony is very evitable in your description, Master. But I will wear this necklace for you."_

" _That's my Kuno!"_

"Hey, Kin!"

Kuno almost instantly looked up to see Howard and Randy walking up to her. They seemed to have big grins on their faces. "Hello. Are we ready to leave?" Classes had just ended, and now it was time for them to go home.

But they didn't seem to be ready for that. "Actually, Kin," Howard started, still grinning. "Cunningham and I have been talking about it for a really long time, but now we're positive."

"I do not understand."

"I mean, yeah, it took a whole month, but we just weren't so sure. After some vigorous planning and take-backs and many arguments—"

"Would both of you please explain to me what is happening here."

Randy smiled proudly and put a hand o her shoulder. "We have decided to officially make you a member to 30 Seconds to Math!"

"Temporarily!"

Kuno blinked at the two boys, unsure of what to say. She knew very well 30 Seconds to Math was their band, but she'd always assumed it was their thing. She never once thought of being a member, but now all she could do was stare.

The two boys half-expected her to say something. They just continued to look at her and grin. "…Are you gonna…?"

"Oh. Um…yay?"

The boys hooted in cheer and brofisted.

"And our first order as a three-member band," Randy started. "We have to write a song!"

Kuno stared again, but it was much longer than the last one. "…Write? Compose?"

"Yeah!" Howard pumped his fist. "It's gonna be the cheese!"

"Guys…I have the incapability to rhyme. Rhyming is not in my database."

"Then we're gonna add it!" Randy said. "Come on, Kin, this is our big break! With the concert coming up and adding you to it, we need to up our game! What do you say?"

The two boys looked at her with pleading eyes. Kuno stared into them for a good hard while. Usually, it was easy for her not to break. But when she stared at the two, she couldn't help _not_ agreeing.

"I say yes."

* * *

"OK!" Howard exclaimed, as he cracked his knuckles. "First step to song-writing: composing the tune."

Randy lay across the music room floor on his stomach, drumming his fingers as he stared at some sheet music. "We want this new song to be catchy. Something epicly _bruce!_ Something everyone would like listening to…"

"Guys," Kuno spoke up. "I have told you. I am not good at rhyming. Nor am I at composing songs. It would be ineffectual to have me help."

"Don't worry, Kin! I'm sure you can help out with something. All songs don't need to rhyme."

"I highly doubt that."

"Hey!" Howard suddenly exclaimed. "Here's a thought. Why don't we make this song without a tune?"

Randy raised an eyebrow. "What the juice are you talking about?"

"You know, like some of those real rockers do! They just sing to the tune of a beat and that's it."

"Hmm, not sure I follow you."

"I understand," Kuno said. "It is simple, but I think I have thought of something…"

The robot girl took her blue guitar and strummed a few notes repeatedly. The two boys listened intently before a smile came on their faces.

"Kuno, that's good! See, you _can_ make music!"

" _OH, wait!_ I got it, I got it!" Howard took his beats and drummed away on the same beat Kuno did. And with that, Randy was nodding now.

"Now _that_ is the _cheese!"_ He snapped his fingers and hummed the beat as he quickly wrote it down on some sheet music. _  
_

Howard continued it with a faster series of drumming to addition to the beat and repeated the sequence. "Man! I have never felt so alive."

Kuno nodded slowly, appearing to understand now. "Now that we have our beat…"

"Time for lyrics!" Randy took a blank sheet of paper and tapped on it. "I say we let our thoughts flow in our brains and see what we might come up with."

"Would that give us some lyric initiatives?"

"Sure, I guess. I mean, we did it for DDD."

"DDD?"

"One of our songs," Howard explained. _"~Detention Deficit Disorder~"_

"All right, there is no need for singing yet."

"Aw."

"So, guys," Randy said. "What should this song even be about?"

"School? I mean, that _is_ who we're singing for."

"What about the Ninja?"

The two boys slowly turned to Kuno, eyes slightly widened as they stared at her, apparently serious, blank face. "The Ninja?" Randy echoed. "Why him?"

"I do not know. Everyone loves the Ninja. If you want this song to be 'epicly bruce', do you not want to sing about something everyone loves?"

"She's got a point there, Cunningham," Howard said.

"Hmmm…yeah, yeah! The Ninja! We could sing about the Ninja!" Randy smiled, at the thought of singing a tribute to himself. "Maybe this _will_ be bruce. Now we can focus on the lyrics."

The three of them just sat in the middle of the music room, thinking of words that would go with the beat. But everything they thought of was just an epic fail. They sat there for a few more moments before Howard took a piece of paper, crumpled it, and threw it at his best friend's face.

" _What the—_ Hey!"

"Come on, Cunningham!" Howard complained. "Think of _something!"_

"How about _you_ think of something?" Randy glared. "Are you seriously letting us do all the work again?"

"Eh, pretty much."

"What the juice, Howard."

" _Chotto,"_ Kuno suddenly said. "Randy, Howard. I think you already said our lyrics."

"What."

"Some of your words…it is foolish, but I think it could work."

"Kuno," Howard said. "Just what the juice are you talking about?"

The robot girl took the paper and scribbled some words she'd recognized from Randy and Howard's conversation. After a few seconds, she handed it back and Randy read them aloud.

" _What the hey  
_ _Come on, you  
_ _What the juice"_

"Kin, these are bruce and all, but what does this have to do with anything?"

"Play your beats, Howard."

Howard was confused, but he played the beat from earlier again, putting stress on the last note. Randy was confused, but he followed.

" _What the HEY  
Come on YOU  
_ _What the JUICE"_

"Ha! That was _amazing!"_ Howard grinned at the robot girl. "For an intro."

"We need more!" Randy grinned. "See, we just have to let it all flow!"

"Might I suggest," Kuno spoke up again. "If this is going to be about the Ninja, the next few lines should be about him."

"Yeah, right…! Quick, quick, think of a fourth line that rhymes with you."

"Sue?" Howard suggested.

"Nah, not enough funk."

"We must think first," Kuno said. "What does everyone think about the Ninja?"

"I dunno, he's so bruce?"

At that, all three of them froze.

" _He's so BRUCE!"_

"Howard, that's the _cheese!"_

"Randy, you have done it again." It was hard to tell, but was Kuno smiling?

"What?! Aw yes!"

"Please repeat it."

"Nah, we're good!"

Howard laughed. "Awesome! This rocks!"

" _Don't stop!"_ The two boys doubled over laughing when they realized all three of them had said it together.

And suddenly, Kuno giggled.

Everything was frozen for about a full three seconds, before the boys looked at each other and grinned at the robot girl. _"Nani?"_

"Did you just laugh?" Randy teased.

"I do not think so. I am incapable of showing such emotion."

"You did!" Howard laughed, patting the girl on the back. "You really laughed! Man, that was priceless!" Kuno only stared back at him.

Randy was chuckling as he scribbled down the words. "I think we should take it from the top. Let's let the words flow!"

" _What the HEY  
_ _Come on YOU  
_ _What the JUICE  
_ _He's so BRUCE  
_ _That's the CHEESE  
_ _Ninja, PLEASE  
_ _Ninja, ROCK  
_ _DON'T STOP!"_

Randy grinned. "What the—"

"HEY!" Howard shouted out.

"Come on—"

"YOU! Do it Ninja!"

" _WHAT THE JUICE!"_

"He's a hero," Kuno added, making the boys smile wider.

" _Come on, fighter!"_

"Just a freshman!"

" _Chotto,"_

"What, what we were just on a roll here, Kin."

"The Ninja is…just a freshman? How is it do you know of this fact?"

Randy and Howard froze as all they could do was stare at her. "Way to go, Cunningham," Howard whispered.

"Oh, um…we just assumed, you know?" Randy chuckled nervously. "I mean, when you look at him from closer inspection you would think he was a freshman, right? I mean, he certainly looks that way. I don't think anyone's gonna know about this it's n-not like all the lyrics are important I mean should we change it?"

Kuno stared at Randy as he tried stammering through his explanation. It was severely suspicious, and the robot stayed in that position for a good long while.

"…He's a..."

" _Ninja!"_

"Yay, we have our song!" Randy forced a smile while doing jazz hands. "I'm thinking Kuno and I do an epic keytar and gui-tar solo after the whole thing. Other than that, this song is _brucemazing!"_

"We're gonna rock everyone's socks off!" Howard cheered. "Just think! Only three more weeks left!"

"It is very exciting," Kuno nodded, not even showing enthusiasm. But the boys didn't mind.

"Slap it up!" As they did their bro slap, Kuno continued to sit and watch. Howard chuckled nervously as he held his fist out. "Brofist it up!"

Kuno bumped it with her own and the two boys let out cries of joy.

"Let's pack it up, you two," Randy said, still grinning. "We still got school tomorrow."

Howard could pack his beats up easily, and he made an excuse that he had to get home right away. If not, as quoted, "he'd miss dinner." Once Howard was gone and left Randy alone with Kuno, a new person came into the room.

"Oh! Randy, hi," Theresa stood by doorway, smiling sweetly when she saw the purple-haired boy.

Randy looked up from packing the lyrics and his eyes widened. "Th-Theresa! H-Hey! What's up?"

"Well, I _was_ looking for Miss Wickwhacker. I didn't think you'd be here…oh, and with Kuno?"

" _Hajimemashite."_ The blue-haired girl turned away and bowed to Theresa. _"Dozo yoroshiku."_

"I don't know what that means…"

"Believe me, I don't either," Randy chuckled. "I try not to ask."

"Where's Howard? Isn't he usually with you?"

"Yeah, but he had to take off. Claiming he'd miss dinner if he didn't. The man's _always_ hungry."

Theresa giggled. "I noticed." When she laughed, Kuno looked up and saw Randy's face when he looked at her. She tilted her head in confusion, as if scanning the situation.

"Sooo…what are you guys doing?"

"Ah, um, we were just writing lyrics for our new 30 Seconds to Math song!"

"Oh. Kuno's a member now?"

"I find it hard to believe myself," Kuno spoke up.

"We call her Kin now," Randy said, smiling proudly. "And were just about to leave. She kinda lives with at my house already."

"Whoa. Really? How come?"

"It's a _long_ story. But I don't suppose you have the time to listen?" He smiled at her innocently, as if hoping it would get through to her or something. And with this, Kuno noticed.

Theresa only smiled back. "Nah, that's cool. Good luck again with your band. Again. See you guys around!"

As she left the room, Kuno heard Randy sigh dreamily. After closing her guitar bag, she walked up to him. "May I ask what that was about."

Randy jumped slightly, a bit surprised as a blush came on his face. "Wha-What what was about? I don't know what you're—did Howard tell you anything?"

"It is in my data, but I have not seen it actually happen. But based on research, this is normal for two teenagers in your age."

"I do not like where you're going with this, Kin."

"Does the term 'crush' refer to you? Because I am almost certain from based upon your actions, that is what you have on Theresa Fowler."

"Crush? Pffft." Randy scoffed and waved a hand. "That's wonk, I don't h-have a crush on Theresa!"

"You have stuttered. That means you are in denial."

"I'm not in denial!"

"Randy, I can hear you sweating."

"Get off my case, Kin!"

"It is normal for teenagers like you to be feeling this way for a person of the opposite gender. There is no reason to hide this fact. I would like to conduct an experiment on this as well."

"OK, one, what _fact?_ And two, there is no reason to go _experimenting_ on me, Kin. I've had enough of that already…"

"What?"

"Nothing! And three, just don't tell anyone, all right? I'm trying to keep it from Howard, but even he's not convinced."

"Why would you want to keep it from Howard? Is he not your friend?"

"Of course he is! But sometimes you just gotta keep secrets from friends too. I mean, look we keep some things from you not just because we're not friends, but we're guys and we can't tell you."

It was still confusing to hear, but Kuno made out one statement out from it. "Are you…implying that I am your friend?"

When Randy tilted his head at her, he had to frown. "Uh…yeah? Don't you think so?"

Kuno could only stare. She never really had a _friend_ before. Robots didn't need them. They had their creators and robot partners. But no _friends._

It was nice to hear.

"Yes. Yes, of course."

"So…"

Kuno nodded briefly. "I do not think I have a reason to tell of your secret for I do not have anyone to tell it to."

Randy almost sighed in relief, but he instead smiled at the robot girl. "Thanks, Kin. You're the cheese."

"I am still not made of it, though."

* * *

 **All right belong to their owners! I sure hope some of you recognized the song I used for this chapter :3 You had better, or you're not a true RC9GN fan!  
**

 **If there are any Starco fans tho, have you seen Episode 6? EEEE STARCO HUGZZ**

 **See you readers in the future chapters~**


	6. You

**Chapter 6: You...**

* * *

Naturally after that little event, Kuno went experimental mode.

The next couple of weeks, the robot girl watched Randy and Theresa whenever they talked to each other. It was a long time, and Kuno was still looking for the Ninja's identity. But she had been observing the two as well. Which made Randy uncomfortable, since he couldn't even tell what she was planning.

Aside from that, 30 Seconds to Math focused on their big concert. The past few weeks, they prepared for it together and had all their songs planned. Randy, Howard, and Kuno worked as a real team and practiced (almost) everyday to pull the whole thing off. Kuno barely had time for her own performances. Despite them all being busy, they still had fun. And just like before, Randy and Howard managed to keep the Ninja secret from the robot. She never suspected a thing. She couldn't.

It was now exactly three days before the concert. The area was ready, everyone was sure to come, and it didn't appear that there would be any more disturbances from McFist or the Sorcerer any time soon. But Randy decided to take a schloomp into his 800-year old book of wisdom.

"All right, Nomicool," the purple-haired teen called out. This time, he was standing by a mountain. He look upwards towards the sky, his back turned away. "What have you got today?"

The book suddenly glowed and Randy felt the ground shaking. He slowly turned around and gasped to see a giant boulder rolling down towards him in high speed. There would be no time for him to move away, so Randy braced for impact.

Luckily, the boulder never came as it suddenly hit a rock on the ground and went flying. It landed just before the boy and glowed as words formed on it.

" _The Ninja that can't see might end up getting hurt,"_ he read aloud. "Nomicon, you told me the same thing three months ago!" The rock glowed in response. "This is probably about Kin again, huh? It's been _three months,_ if she was gonna hurt me, she probably would have done so by now." The Nomicon glowed angrily. "All right, all right, whatever you say. I don't understand, but…"

A tiny pebble came out of nowhere and hit him on the back of his head.

" _Augh!"_

* * *

" _Gah!"_

Randy coughed when he felt a gallon of water being dumped over his head. He glared up at Howard, who was holding an empty bucket, but the chubby boy only looked back down on him. "Well, Cunningham, if you're done with your little nap, maybe you could, I dunno, try helping out now?"

The trio were at the concert area, as usual, again, just putting the finishing touches on their stage. Kuno was up above, hanging the backdrop with their band name on it. Randy quickly hid the Nomicon before she could see.

"I was just consulting the book. A few minutes didn't hurt, right?"

"Yeah, whatever, just hang up the streamers."

"Howard, bro. There is nothing to worry about!"

"I'm not."

"This concert will be the _cheese._ We _know_ it's going to!"

" _I'm not,_ I'm just asking you to honking hang the—"

"Randy!" a female's voice called.

"Hi, Theresa!" As the purple-haired boy walked away, Howard facepalmed.

"Wow!" Theresa grinned as she looked around the area. "This placed looks so bruce! You guys did a really good job on it."

"Well, we _did_ have some help from you." Randy said. "A-And everyone else, but yeah!"

Theresa beamed. "Glad to help! But um…can I talk to you…alone?"

Randy almost blushed as soon as she said that. "Alone? Yeah, sure! What um…what do you—"

"I have experienced this before."

The two gasped when Kuno had swung down from the upper stage and landed right between them. She eyed Randy blankly. "It is in my data, but I have not actually seen it in real life." She then turned to Theresa. "You were about to ask him on a date, yes?"

At those words, both of them went red. "Kiiin," Randy whined. "What the juice?"

"Date?" Theresa chuckled nervously, turning away and twirling her hair around her finger. "What, no, um…that's ridiculous—"

"I have heard it is supposedly the boy who will ask the girl. This is most certainly amusing."

"OK, back to fixing the backdrop!"

"It is fixed. And it is normal for two teens at your age to embarrassed about such mentioning. But deep down, do you not want it to happen?"

"Me and Theresa on a date? Kin—"

"I can provide the time and event. Tonight at the park seems like a good location."

"Are you losing your cheese right now?"

"I do not have any cheese."

"It's nice of you to think so and all, b-but I'm pretty s-sure we will be busy, r-right Theresa?"

The short-haired girl actually smiled bashfully. "Actually, I wouldn't mind…" Randy also blushed at that. "What about you?"

The teen boy hesitated, rubbing the back of his head and avoiding eye contact. "W-Well…I did tell Howard to stop going wonk over the concert…" It wasn't technically a no.

"It is confirmed," Kuno said. "I will provide everything and give you instructions. Tonight, you must prepare."

"Oh, Kin you really don't have t—"

"No. This will be a part of my research. I insist that I must participate."

"We're not an experiment!"

"You definitely act like you do."

This caused Theresa to laugh at both of them. Randy found himself drawn to her voice. "Can't understand the things you're saying yet Kuno, but I like it. See you guys! Bye, Randy!" Then, she took off again.

"Kin, what was that about?" Randy asked, rather calmly.

"Did you not want this to happen?" Kuno asked innocently.

"No—I mean yes—what are you up to."

"I do not think I am 'up to' anything."

"Then why did you set up a date with _Theresa?"_

Kuno shrugged. "I wanted to do something for a friend. And friends help each other. And we are friends, are we not?"

Randy blinked at the robot girl numerous times. Then he shook his head and smiled. "Uh, yeah! Yeah…" He had nothing else to say.

" _Hey shoobs!"_ Howard called from afar. "If all you two are gonna do is stand around and chat, then I suggest you—"

He didn't get to finish his sentence. There was a loud _boom_ and the sound of people gasping and shouting. "What was that?" Kuno asked. Randy knew it could only mean one thing.

"It's ninja time," he muttered to himself.

"Come on, Kin!" Howard said immediately, dragging her. "Let's go check it out!"

"I'll just finish things up in here!" Randy excused. "I'll catch up in a bit."

As usual, Kuno was confused and slightly suspicious. But Howard pushed her away before she could say anything again.

It was another robot again. This time, it was another one of Viceroy's robo-spiders. There were about a dozen of them, wrecking the school again. Everyone was screaming (as usual), but Howard and Kuno awaited for the Ninja to arrive.

" _Smokebomb!"_

The Ninja stood before the spiders, as they all turned to him and snarled. They prepared and charged at him.

" _Ninja rings!"_ The weapons managed to hit some of the robots, destroying most of their legs and causing them to fall. "Break a leg! Or maybe eight of them."

Somewhere in the courtyard, Bucky Hensletter laughed. "Robo-spider zing!"

Some of the robots managed to survive, and lunged for the Ninja. "Oh cheese," He didn't get a chance to do anything as the spiders knocked him down.

As they rolled, the Ninja landed on the ground first and kicked a spider off of him. "Hah!" The spider went flying and suddenly landed right before two certain people.

"Whoa-oh," Howard said. "Come on, Kin!"

But for a split seconds, the robot spider seemed to scan Kuno with its beady little mechanical eyes. Once it got a clear result, it took Kuno by the waist and started taking her away.

"… _Nani?"_

"Kin!" Howard gasped. "Hey, robot, let go of my friend! (Who is also technically a robot…)"

Howard took Kuno's hand and pulled, but even that wasn't enough. The spider used its other leg and swatted the chubby boy away. He went flying backwards and landed into the school wall. Kuno's pixel eyes widened. "Howard?"

"Ninja!" the boy managed to croak out.

Randy as the Ninja turned away from slicing some spiders and his eyes widened. "Guys?"

At first, Kuno thought they would be easy to beat. She tricked kicking the spider away but it had seven extra legs to restrain her. When she tried to use her laser, her wrists were held away from each other and they couldn't break free. Kuno was completely vulnerable.

" _Tasukete."_ This time, her voice was sincere.

"Kin!" The Ninja sprang into action and kicked the robo-spider away. It didn't budge as it back up, and continued to cling onto Kuno. It hissed, and lasers came out of its eyes. The Ninja yelped and barely dodged them all.

"Whoa! Didn't think you guys got an upgrade! _Ninja electro balls!"_

The robo-spider hissed again as the electricity hit its eyes, blinding it. Randy saw the chance and brought his sword out. _"Ninja slice!"_

The legs were cut again and Kuno was free. She quickly moved away, kicking the spider, and turned to the Ninja as she bowed in respect. _"Arigatou gozaimasu, Ninja."_

"Are you all right?"

" _Daijoubu._ They did not hurt me."

Randy sighed in relief behind the mask. "Look, Kin, I really appreciate your help, but I got it all under control! Really, there's no reason to get yourself hurt because of me."

Kuno only blinked at him. "No, Ninja, I want to be able to—" She suddenly stopped when she realized something. "…Did you just call me Kin?"

' _Oh, shoob,'_ Randy thought. _'Not again!'_ "Well, um…isn't that your nickname?"

"Only Randy, Howard, and possibly Theresa know my nickname…" Kuno's eyes began computing again. "Unless…you're—"

"Kin!" As if on cue, Howard had recovered and ran up to her. "Great, you're alive! Thanks for saving her, Ninja, come on Kin!" As the two ran off, Randy sighed again.

"Great. One more problem to deal with. Me and my big mouth, why can't I just keep silent?!"

Suddenly, he realized the other spiders were trying to retreat. "Hey! I'm not done with you yet! _Ninja slice!"_

Once the spiders were out, cheers and praises and all that, Randy went back to Howard and Kuno, who seemed to be at the janitor's closet. Unfortunately, the same thing from before happened yet again.

"You erased her memory again?!" he exclaimed, shocked.

"I had to!" Howard protested. "She was onto you again! And it's _your_ own fault! You promised you wouldn't slip up again!"

"I was worried! I didn't mean to say her nickname!"

"You have to be more careful around her next time, Cunningham!"

"I can't help it! Why does she want to find the Ninja's identity so badly anyway?"

"You can't blame _anyone_ for wanting to! Look, just promise I won't have to do this again."

"…Shouldn't _you_ be promising _me?"_

" _Swear it!"_

"OK, OK! Cheese, she's really gonna kill us when she finds out about all this…"

"Ah, well, she won't. Now let's start her up again. She's still gonna get you ready for your date."

"Oh, _that_ you remember? I'm guessing you didn't erase _that_ from her memory."

"Ha, are you kidding? Of course I didn't."

* * *

As usual, Kuno didn't suspect a thing. She just went on with the day preparing for "Randy's Big Moment" He still had no idea what she was up to, and Howard threatened to check. But Randy stopped him. "I want to keep the secret a secret," he had mumbled.

Howard just scoffed. "Hmph. Killjoy."

That night, Kuno had prepared a suit for the teen boy and was helping him get ready. Randy was clearly confused.

"Why am I dressing up? I thought we were just going to the park."

"You are," Kuno said as she straightened his tie. "But this is a date. I have told Theresa to do the same anyway." Once she was good to go, Kuno took a piece of paper out of her open. "Do not open it until you have arrived. I will tell you what to do."

"Wow," Randy commented as he took the paper. "You really thought of everything."

"Naturally. Also, I do not want you bringing any other belongings with you. You must not be distracted in an event as important as this."

"Well, sure. But can I bring my—"

"No."

"But how about—"

"No."

"But—"

"No."

"You didn't even know what I was going to say!"

"I did not need to. The time now is 6:47 pm. If you leave now, you will be sure to arrive at exactly 7:00. Your curfew is 10:00 sharp. Your mother expects you back before then."

"Geez, Kin, you're seriously serious about this."

"You must leave now."

"Already?"

"Leave."

"Wait, but—"

"Now."

Before Randy knew it, Kuno was pushing him out the door. "All right, all right, I'm going!"

As they left, something glowed in Randy satchel. The Ninja Nomicon seemed very angry.

* * *

Randy waited at the park entrance for Theresa. He kept checking his watch and tapping his foot. It was not that he was impatient. In fact, he was nervous. This was his first date ever and it was with a girl he liked. What's worse was that his robot friend planned it all…

But deep inside his heart, he felt slightly confident.

"Hey, Randy." The purple-haired teen whirled around and saw Theresa. She was wearing the dress she'd worn for the Night Under the Stars Dance, but for some reason, Randy thought she looked even more beautiful now. When she smiled, he thought it was enough to brighten up the whole night. He could only stare at her in amazement.

"Hey, Theresa," he managed, a grin forming on his face. "You, uh…look bruce."

The short-haired girl giggled at that. "Thanks. You look bruce too."

There was a bit of awkward silence. The two just kept staring and looking away from each other. The moonlight continued to shine upon them. Whenever Randy looked at Theresa, he just mentally slapped himself for still not saying anything at that point.

So he did. "So…shall we?"

The girl blinked for a while before smiling. "We shall."

The park was surprisingly empty that night. Sure, there were people already in their houses sleeping, but it was as if the animals had decided to leave and do as well. Randy kept opening and closing his mouth, unable to say anything again. Theresa didn't speak either.

' _Come on, Cunningham, you can do this.'_

Mustering his strength, he managed a "Sorry if Kin probably forced you into this."

Luckily, Theresa merely laughed. "It's all right. Like I said, I don't mid being here."

"Really?"

"Yeah…I mean, I _do_ like you."

"Is that something you're supposed to say in the beginning of a date?"

"Is mentioning the person that set it up also a conversation starter?"

"Hmm…well played Fowler."

Then the two just burst out laughing at each other. Randy felt his heart beating madly in his chest. "I guess we both failed at First Dating 101."

"To be honest, I'm glad that Kuno started all this. When I saw her with you and Howard the first time, I was jealous."

Randy had to laugh again at that. "Seriously? Kin and I are just friends, really. Howard and I actually hated her at first."

"Huh…well, not all friendships start out that good. I guess I can relate."

"Why, who'd you dislike?"

"Der Monster Klub, is one example. I thought they were creepy, but once I realized we all had something in common, they let me into the group."

"Cool, cool. What about you and Kang?"

"Debbie? We go way back, almost as long as you and Howard. Speaking of the two, I wonder why they haven't gone together yet…"

Once again, the purple-haired boy just burst out laughing. "Really? Howard and Debbie? Together? Yeah, and I'm Hannibal McFist."

"Hey! It's a possibility! Our best friends deserve love. And if it's with each other, I actually wouldn't mind."

"Yeah, I guess I wouldn't either…maybe we should get Kind to put _them_ on a date."

"Speaking of Kuno, where did she even plan ours?"

"Oh, almost forgot! She gave me instructions to follow or something." Randy brought the piece of paper he'd bee n given earlier and read the words aloud. "'Keep heading straight until you find the surprise'. What the juice? That doesn't—"

"Randy, look!"

Theresa suddenly pointed at something and the boy gasped at what he saw. Up on top of a small hill was a beautiful pavilion he had never seen before. It was marble white, had a picturesque engraved roof, and was standing right behind the park lake for a moonlight view. There was a clothed table for two waiting for them as they climbed up the stone steps. The couple gazed in awe at the meticulous designs covering the scenic structure.

"This is amazing," Theresa gasped, fingering a column. "How did Kuno…"

Randy suddenly saw a little note attached to one of the chairs and read it: _"I have my ways."_

"Yep. That's our Kin."

The teen boy pulled a chair back for Theresa, who smiled thankfully at him. The candelabra flickered before there, and Randy looked around confused.

"So…what now?"

"There's something under the table!"

Theresa then brought out a white, wide flat box from underneath. Randy's eyes widened slightly as they opened it up. "Pizza!"

There was another note on it and Randy read again: _"Bon appetit."_

"She really thought of everything," Theresa grinned.

Randy couldn't help smiling as well. "Yeah…she did."

* * *

Back at Randy's house, Kuno was bored. It was impossible for a robot to get bored but she was. Kuno was checking her heart scales and memory bank as she waited for the two to return. There were problems in her system that she couldn't seem to figure out what. She just went and decided to clean the room.

As she was putting some books away, she saw a glow from the corner of her eye. _"…Nani?"_

The glow was coming from Randy's satchel. _'That's right,'_ Kuno remembered. _'I made Randy leave his things.'_

Curiosity killed the robot. She walked up to the satchel and rummaged through it, as she brought out the first thing she laid her hand on.

That thing just happened to be the Ninja Nomicon.

"… _Nan desu ka?"_ The moment she held the book, the glow grew brighter. It was as if it was furious.

Suddenly, the book started to open and flip through the pages on its own. This caused Kuno confusion, but she didn't get to think for long. The pixels in her eyes suddenly rolled to the back of her head, and she blacked out.

* * *

Kuno felt her mechanical soul being sucked into the book. She didn't know how it was possible, but her mechanical consciousness was completely inside the eight-century year old pages. She was falling downwards, wondering what was happening, when she looked and saw the forest below her. She managed to land onto the ground perfectly fine.

" _Watashi wa doko desu ka…?"_ she said aloud. The sky glowed red in response. Kuno only understood slightly.

" _Anata wa…nani shiteru?"_ This time, Japanese letters floated in front of her. Kuno understood it well.

 _I am the Ninja Nomicon._

"Ninja…" The explanation was brief, but Kuno got exactly one word out of it. "Do you know Randy?" The sky glowed again. "So…he _is_ the—"

Nomicon interrupted again by showing English words this time. It was just like when Randy was talking to it, and Kuno read aloud. _"'Sacrifices must be made to save the ones you love.'"_ This made the robot girl frown. _"Eh? Wakarimase—"_

She didn't even get to finish. She felt another presence behind her and quickly moved away. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw a samurai had attempted to stab her in the back with its sword. She moved back some more, and found three more had started to surround her as well. What's worse was that the doodle ninjas and paper dragons had started to appear. The entire Nomicon was ganging up on her.

This was too much for the robot to handle, so she did the next best thing. She turned around and ran.

The doodle ninjas tried chasing after her, as they threw their shurikens and ninja rings. Kuno dodged them all, but she was still confused. A dragon roared and blasted fire at her. Kuno barely survived and had to jump up to avoid that attack completely.

" _Souka…"_ she mused, continuing to run. "So it is _I_ who must be the sacrifice."

* * *

"And she just completely caught the ball with her hand! Bash was all like, _whaaaat,_ and Kin was all like, _You're out!_ We were friends ever since."

Theresa laughed as Randy told his tale. "Well, that's one way to gain a friendship!"

Hours have passed. Randy and Theresa found themselves actually enjoying their date night. They barely paid attention to what was happening around them. The moonlight was growing brighter, the pizza slices slowly shortening. Yet, they still had the energy, and their laughs filled the park. They just enjoyed the time they had with each other.

Theresa was still laughing at his stories later on as she wiped her eye. "OK, wow! Seriously, Spanish isn't that hard! You don't need a hypnotizing tape to learn it."

"Easy for you to say! We're just lucky Senora gave us a second chance. We're pretty much gonna shoob it up again, though."

"Aw, I think you'll do fine!"

"You're just saying that! We shoob _everything_ up."

"You didn't shoob up tonight."

Once he realized she made a comment, he blushed. "Really? G-Glad to know!"

Theresa smiled and leaned forward slightly, fumbling with her fingers. "I'm really having fun, Randy. I'm glad I'm getting to know you more…I'm glad I'm here at the park with you, which is something I never thought would ever happen."

"Me too, Theresa," Randy found himself saying, as he reached out and placed his hand over hers. The shorthaired girl blinked and blushed a bit. When Randy realized this, he quickly pulled away and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oh, hey, um…it's getting a little late. I think we need to get home before our parents kill us."

Theresa chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Do you…want me to walk you home?"

The girl looked at him (almost like she was mini fangirling inside) and nodded almost quickly. "Yes! I mean…sure, that sounds good." Randy almost grinned to himself.

They made sure to pack the table away before leaving the pavilion. "Kuno would eventually be able to fix everything tomorrow," Randy assured. "Let's go before security finds us or something."

"Heh. Sure."

Randy looked down and glanced at her hand. It was just there by her side and his own hand itched to reach for it. So he did and gently held it. Theresa was slightly surprised, and now she was blushing harder than before. But the two were still smiling.

They were just silent this time on the way to Theresa's house. Looks like they ran out of things to talk about. They could only relish the last moments they had with each other that night. Once they reached their destination, Randy didn't seem to want to let go.

"Well," the girl started, reluctantly pulling away. "Looks like it's good night for me." When she smiled, Randy felt his heart melting.

"Good night, Theresa. See you at school?"

"Of course."

With those final words, she reached over and quickly kissed him on the cheek. She grinned, quickly walked up to her door, waved goodbye one last time, and entered her house, leaving Randy outside in the night.

He almost wasn't completely there. He just stood, with a wide-eyed look on his face as he stared at Theresa's door. He blinked numerous times as he thought about just now. _'Did that really just happen?'_ he thought. His face was instinctively breaking into a smile, and he couldn't help praising the sky.

Yes, Randy, it did.

* * *

Once Randy arrived in his room, he was sighing dreamily. The night was just perfect. He went out with the girl of his dreams, and they enjoyed it. As he took his shoes off and lay down on his bunk bed, he couldn't help thinking of replaying every single moment in his head. And there was one person responsible for it all.

"Kin," he called out, not looking down. "Tonight was bruce. We really had a great time. I just wanted to say thanks a lot for it, I probably wouldn't have been able to talk to Theresa myself if it wasn't for you. Seriously, thanks. You're a true friend, you know that? And also, I just wanted to say—wait, why aren't you responding?"

When Randy finally looked down, he gasped. The Nomicon was open, and Kuno's head was laid on it. Her eyes were closed, as if she had decided to shut down on it. But Randy knew better.

"Oh, cheese," he muttered, getting off. "Oh cheese oh cheese oh cheese."

He quickly picked the book up and slightly panicked as he shook it. "Nomicon, what the juice?! Is Kin in there? What's happening? Please tell me you're not…"

He quickly opened it, and his consciousness was sucked in.

" _Augh!"_

* * *

When Randy opened his eyes, he gasped. He was on top of a small hill, and he could see the action from there. Until now, there were still Nomicon characters attacking the robot girl. From there, Randy could see her slightly confused expression as she attempted to fight them all off. She was barely surviving the fight.

"Kin, I'm coming!"

Randy slid down the hill and raced towards the action. Once he arrived, he saw a paper dragon swiping its claws at the robot. She jumped back, but ended up getting caught in samruai arms. She punched through their paper chests and caught sight of the purple-haired boy.

"Randall Cunningham," she said, rather lowly. "You owe me an explanation."

"Kin, watch out!"

The robot quickly turned when she saw a doodle ninja attempt to slice her head off. She did a little backflip and ended up at the boy's side.

"Nomicon!" Randy shouted out. "Come on! Schloomp us out!"

But the book wouldn't budge. The samurais had combined their swords to form one giant attack sent at them. Kuno's eyes were widened, unable to dodge this one.

" _Ninja Earth Attack!"_ A giant dirt wall shot upwards, blocking the swords, as they clattered to the ground. "Nomicon!" Randy shouted louder this time. "Come on! _Schloomp us out!"_

The characters were glaring, specifically at Kuno, but the entire book glowed red, and the two felt their consciousness slipping away.

* * *

Randy gasped as he bolted upright from the book and immediately turned to Kuno. "Kin, are you all right?"

The robot girl blinked numerous times, as the gears in her head turned and she was booting up. Once she was turned on again, she slowly sat up and looked at Randy. "What was that?"

"Kin, I'm _so sorry,_ I—"

" _Ima nanji desu ka."_

"…What?"

"What time is it."

"Um…10:12?" He didn't know why she was asking. Didn't she always knew the time?

"That is correct, Randall Cunningham. I was in there for three whole hours."

Randy frowned. He did not like the tone of her voice. "Kin, please listen."

"You're the Ninja. You were the Ninja this whole time, and you never told me."

"I couldn't! Nomicon said the Ninja can never tell his identity! You know that!"

"Then how is it that Howard knows."

"That's…how do you know Howard knows?"

"After analyzing my memories, it has become clear to me. And you are best friends, I should have known you would tell him. That rules me out, then…"

"Kin, I _wanted_ to tell you, but you were just too curious! You knew too much. We _couldn't_ let you know, your memories probably couldn't handle it, let's just say we were doing you a favor."

"That is not…" She suddenly paused, a sudden thought coming to her head. "…Randy…is it possible that you were interfering with my memory bank."

"See?! You know too much, this is obviously—I mean…n-no…we're…just…"

"It all makes sense now…" It looks like the mystery of her system problems were solved.

Kuno had her head down, as she stared at the Nomicon on the floor, but Randy could see her face. It was an expression of sadness. An expression he'd never seen on Kuno. The very fact made him frown more. "Kin—"

"You have never trusted me. You messed with my memories. And now you had your book try to kill me."

"I didn't…I had no idea the Nomicon was trying to do that!"

Kuno stood up slowly, looking at Randy as she backed away slowly. Her expression was now blanker than ever. "You used me."

"Kin..."

"My name is Kuno." The very words shattered the heart in his chest.

Before he knew it, Kuno had turned around and left the room. "Kin! Kuno!" He tried catching up to her, wanting to explain, but the robot girl was faster. She managed to exit the house and slam the door shut. Randy opened it again, and frantically looked around his neighborhood. But there was nothing. The moonlight continued to shine brightly upon him.

Kuno Ichi was gone.

* * *

 **Hello readers~!**

 **I hope you guys liked this chapter! I was working pretty hard on it because squeeeeee Fowlham :D I made this chapter extra long! I'm probably not going to be able to update in a while again. I'm still looking for more people to read this and like it. Which I hope you guys did! Please, as usual, reviews and favorites are always appreciated. I really need some inspiration, because it's just the first week of school, and I already have a lot of homework :( I gotta finish them all fast if I want Chapter 7 to be posted.**

 **Wish me luck~! See you in the next chapters! Hope you guys will stick around to finish reading it all~!**


	7. Punishment

**Chapter 7: Punishment**

* * *

 **Soooorrrryyyy for not updating! Sorry if it's too rushed too...**

 **Bc no motivation, yk? xP**

 **Anyhow, even after that long wait, the future chapters will end up shorter! Foooor certain reasons .3. Either way, I hope you enjoy the chapter, and I hope it makes up for that last cliffhanger!**

* * *

' _I can't go back. I can't go back. I don't want to go back.'_

Kuno just kept repeating these words in her head. She just kept running and running away from Randy's house. It's not like she thought she had anywhere else to get to…

But fate brought her to the next place she could think of. The blue-haired girl lifted her head to find that she was standing before the McFist Industries building. Immediately, she remembered her creator's words:

" _I do not want you to come back until you have the Ninja's identity!"_

This disheartened her. She really had no other option then. Technically, she _did_ know who the Ninja was and it was clearly obvious it was Randy.

 _Oh, Randy._ Kuno bit her lip and hesitated before going inside. Yes, Randy was her friend, but was he really? He never trusted her enough to tell her he was the Ninja. Then again, he didn't know her long. But still, why didn't he tell her? He couldn't have possibly known she was working for McFist, did he? Kuno could never know now…

But it was time to do her job.

When she went through the secret entrance, Otto immediately greeted her. This made the girl smile inside, for she knew she hasn't seen her robot friend in a while. Otto chirped and nuzzled up against her and she had to push him back. "It's nice to see you again too, Otto."

"Where have you been?!"

Kuno instantly flinched. Otto cowered a bit and flew backwards, as Viceroy came into the picture. His hands were on his hips and was glaring at Kuno like she was a piece of scum at the bottom of his shoe. The girl stood straight and regained composure, but even for a robot, inside she felt terrified.

"Master. I am home."

"Do you have any idea how _worried_ I was?! You were gone for _weeks!_ You could've gotten destroyed! I couldn't track you! What have you been _doing?!"_

Kuno felt herself quivering, an action she never thought she'd do. It felt weird. "I am sincerely sorry, Master," she said, bowing her head apologetically. "I promise, Master…it will never happen again."

"I'm sorry too, Kuno. Because I don't trust you enough now to know you're genuine about that." The robot didn't respond. "But, routines are routines. Up on the table. Now."

Kuno nodded reluctantly and did as he asked. The mechanical arms she'd come to recognize appeared again and restrained her in. The scientist typed away on his computer and his eyes lit up. "Oh, I see you brought something back for me."

The robot girl nodded briefly. "Yes, Master. It is a very important piece of information."

"Interesting…well done, Kuno. I'll read it immediately."

This was it. Viceroy would finally get the information he needed. And he'd pass it on to McFist, who would get the reward he (not really) deserved. The robot's purpose was fulfilled.

But it must've been something else because Kuno hesitated. She didn't feel like giving Viceroy the memory file. She couldn't. Kuno was almost completely sure it wasn't a glitch restraining her, but true personal reasons. That file contained her best friend's secret. Sure, it was the best friend that didn't trust her. But the friend that made her this way in the first place. Randy would be dead if McFist knew. And the robot girl was sure now she wanted to protect that friend. Even if it meant going against her command.

Right when Viceroy was about to click it, Kuno used her robotic strength to reach up and rip the mechanical arm away from her. Viceroy whirled around but he was too late. The robot girl jumped off of the table, the wires disconnecting and the computer screens blacking out. Viceroy only bit his lip, as if anticipating this would happen.

"My apologies, Master. But I am afraid I cannot let you touch that file." Kuno ripped the wire that connected from her heart panel and the last computer screen died down. Viceroy huffed.

"You're being very disrespectful, Kuno. Those past three weeks have been a bad influence on you. Back on the table."

"No."

"Kuno Ichi, I command you to do as I say!"

"No, Master. I cannot serve you anymore." The tone of her voice was never so sure.

Viceroy squinted his eyes at her, trying to remain composition. He slowly reached into his pocket, still staring. "I do not know what happened to you while you were gone…but it was obviously a bad idea to ever trust you to go off alone."

Without warning, he brought out a small remote from the pocket of his lab coat. Once he pressed it, another mechanical arm came out of nowhere. Kuno barely saw it coming again. It was bigger and much faster than the ones she ever dealt with, and it just took her up and slammed her against the wall. The robot girl tried to struggle from its grasp, but bigger meant much stronger. Viceroy walked up to her slowly, as if examining her all over again. He opened her heart panel and connected a wire. A computer whirred to life, and the scientist typed away.

"I'm sorry, Kuno. But you are _my_ creation, and you must suffer the consequences."

"Release me," the robot said. She was trying to sound stern, while trying to stay calm, but it was getting harder to even stay composed now.

The scientist didn't even hear her. As he typed, there was one file on the computer that Kuno was able to see from there. Her eyes slightly widened when she read the words: "Memories"

"This folder is damaged," he noticed, turning to her. "You were trying to hide something from me, weren't you?" Kuno didn't reply. "It must be the information of the Ninja…two months of waiting for nothing." Viceroy bit his lip, seeming angry, and went back to the screen, typing away furiously. "We have to start all over again."

Kuno did not know what that meant. But she didn't like it all. All she could do was stare.

* * *

"I'm such a shoob," Randy muttered. He held his head in his hands as he and Howard were sitting at some stairs at school. After the purple-haired teen's little mishap with Kuno, he told Howard all about it. The two searched for the robot girl for days. But one full week later, they got nothing. Howard frowned, as Randy just continued to blame himself. He kept saying things like it'd be all right, but he wasn't fooling anyone. To make things worse, it was now three days left before their concert. They could probably go on without Kuno, but it wouldn't be the same.

"Look, Kin wouldn't abandon us," Howard tried. "I mean, even if she knows _we_ lied to her, there's no way she would leave us hanging, right?" At that, Randy slowly lifted his head and just deadpanned at him. The boy threw his hands up in the air. "OK, fine, so she hates us! But what can we do? I say it was her fault. If she hadn't wanted to know about the Ninja, then all this would probably never have happened."

"Howard, we can't just blame Kin for all that. She's just like everyone else. Excluding the fact she's made of metal. And she's our friend. I just want to find her."

"Man, I do too, but like I said. There's nothing we can do about that. _We're_ not her creators. _She_ wouldn't tell us anything about herself either."

The purple-haired teen sighed. "I know…"

"…Hey, let's focus on the bright side! We don't have to hear her talk all smart."

Randy just stared at him blankly again. Howard was horrible at making things better.

"Hi, Randy. Hi, Howard," The two teens then looked up to see who it was. Randy managed a big smile when he saw a certain, purple-haired girl.

"Hey! Theresa! Nice to see you today,"

Ever since their little date, the two have been _much_ more comfortable around each other than before. Randy rarely stuttered around her now, so that must be some sort of achievement. They were closer, almost like best friends, and slowly graduating their relationship into something more.

"'Sup, Fowler," Howard greeted.

"I saw you guys from way over there," Theresa said, a little concern in her voice. "You seemed pretty upset."

"Yeah," Randy admitted. "We were just talking…"

"Buuut, it's all good now!" Howard lied. "It was just, uh…a 30 Seconds to Math problem."

"Your concert's in three days. What else could go wrong?"

"Well, to be honest…" Randy sighed. "Kuno has been missing for a week now, and we're worried she won't come back 'til then…it's a big crisis for our band."

Theresa's face twisted into one of confusion. "But…Kuno is right there."

"Say what now."

She pointed, and the boys turned to the entrance to see a certain blue-haired girl. Kuno Ichi was walking into the school, her bag slung across her shoulder, and the usual blank expression on her face. She didn't turn towards the three's direction, and just walked straight to the hallway of her locker. All Randy and Howard could do was stare, mouths agape, as they watched their friend walk away.

"I thought she'd do a guitar performance today," Theresa continued. "Guess not. Weird, it's like she didn't even see you guys."

"W-Well, look at that!" Randy said in a high-tone, trying for a smile. "She's back! Look, Howard, isn't that great?"

"Uhhh…" The Weinerman had no response.

"Guess the band's really all good now! Say, Theresa, why don't we go ahead and we'll catch up with you at chemistry class. OK? OK, bye!" Without even waiting for her reply, the purple-haired teen took his best friend and they dashed toward Kuno's direction.

"She came back?" Howard finally managed to shout. "I mean, it's great she's all right, but why didn't she honking tell us?!"

"She's probably still mad," Randy said, voice slightly soft. "There she is!"

Kuno was just taking some books out of her locker. She seemed even more expressionless than usual, if that was even possible. Just ten meters away from her, Kuno already turned to see the boys go up to her. The robot girl blinked when she saw them. She didn't even say a thing when they smiled awkwardly.

"K-Kin—I mean, Kuno!" Randy started, faltering a bit. "Thank _cheese_ you're OK, I thought you would never come back!"

"Not me, I had faith," Howard added quickly.

"Kuno, I'm so sorry about what happened last week, I really meant to tell you! B-But, you must have come to your senses by now, so can we all just forget about everything that happened and stay bruce?" He tried for a smile.

"Come on, Kuno Ichi, we have a concert in three days, say yes."

But the robot didn't even respond. She was just staring at them, the tiniest hint of confusion in her blank brown eyes. She looked from Randy to Howard, back and forth, as if trying to process what was happening. The boys exchanged a little look, just as confused. Finally, the girl took a small intake of air, though it wasn't needed, and looked at them emptily. "Who are you two?"

At first, they thought she was joking. As she stared at them, they could only stare back. Randy was the first to break the unnerving silence. "T-That's very funny, Kuno…seriously, stop it."

"I apologize," Even the tone of her voice wasn't helping her expression. "I am afraid I have never seen you before. You must be talking to the wrong person."

"Come on, Kuno Ichi," Howard said, a little threateningly. "We're not _that_ stupid. The three of us are best friends! We're part of _band!"_ Still nothing. "We know your secret obsession about finding out who the Ninja is! We're the only ones that know you are a robot!"

For a moment, worry crossed the robot's eyes. "How do you know that?"

"Like we said! We're _best_ _friends!_ Don't tell me you got your memory bank erased!"

Suddenly, a sudden realization came to Randy's mind. He thought about what Howard said for a while, like the truth just punched him in the face. But Kuno still didn't see it, and almost slammed her locker shut as she stared at the boy sternly.

"I am certain we have never met before now. Whatever you know about me is most likely a lie. I suggest you forget about it, and never tell anyone else. Good day." She shouldered her bag, turned around, and walked away.

Howard looked furious. "Can you _believe_ that, Cunningham? She just walked away from us! She's obviously still mad, she wants to ruin the concert for revenge, I swear—"

"Howard, I think there's more than that," Randy said, frowning at his friend. "I think Kuno really did lose her memory. She looked at us like we were _strangers._ I know Kuno enough to know she wouldn't trick us. She _doesn't get tricks."_

"Well, that could be a possibility. But what happened?"

"Does it look like I know?!"

"Ye—"

"Don't answer that."

"I'm guessing someone else messed with her memories than us. So not bruce."

"You really think there's someone else that knows she's a robot?"

" _Apparently._ I mean, I know we did a good job hiding it, but someone clearly found out."

Randy suddenly thought of something again. "…What if they know she knew who the Ninja was. What if they tried to kidnap her, get her memories, but Kuno fought back so they _wouldn't_ know, and they ended up erasing her memory completely?!"

Howard raised an eyebrow. "You just got a gist of all that at once."

"It's likely."

"Well, who do you think wanted to know?"

The purple-haired hesitated, his eyes slowly lighting. "There's only one person I can think of." He looked at Howard knowingly.

"…Doug?"

"Wh—That's so off."

"I just wanted an excuse to beat him up."

" _McFist,_ man! He wants to know the Ninja's identity more than anyone! He must have captured Kuno, got Viceroy to get her memories and…" He gasped. "I have to get her memories back."

"How do you know they still have her memory files? What if they really erased them?"

"We have to believe." Randy got a serious look on his face. "Because as far as I know, our Kin is still there somewhere…."

"Yeaaahh…" Howard said slowly. "Well, you go thinking that. How exactly are you even going to get them back?"

The purple-haired teen hesitated again, turning towards where Kuno left. He frowned for a moment, but it was exchanged with a look of determination. "Maybe I don't…but the Ninja sure does."

* * *

 **Randy obviously has no idea haha xP**

 ** _Note for Guest from insta:_ Haha wow thanks! :D I'm afraid I don't have Instagram, but I do have deviantart :) Thanks for offering, omgods w**

 **I apologize if it was short q-q I really couldn't think, really. Plus, not many people read this anyways u-u The next chapter might take a little while too, readers. I seriously never have the time anymore for writing anymore, I'm trying to get my grades up u-u I only pray I can get this story finished and still get higher grades before the term ends! Wish me luck. See you in the next chapters~**


	8. I Am My Own Self

**Chapter 8: I Am My Own Self**

* * *

 **I'm not dead! Woo!**

 **My reason for not being alive is the same as last u-u But I decided to write the chapter already in celebration (and desperation) for the Season 2 finale for finally being released! Yaaaaayyyy(booooo) I bet we're all hoping for a Season 3, aren't we? I have faith! They have to explain what's gonna happen next! THEY HAVE TO. Ahem.**

 **I have two shout-outs today! One for a certain guest reviewer, Guest from Insta, that offered to make fanart of this fic. Thanks again! I hope you saw the note in that last chapter. I don't have Instagram, but I do have deviantart :) Second one's for GirlDeMo55. Angel Beats, omgods, ever since you mentioned that I've started to watch it and I'm loving it. I'm still finishing all thirteen episodes, but I'm totally going for your request! I know the perfect way to use "My Soul, Your Beats!" ;) Thanks to you, I know love this anime :3**

 **Now, on with the chapter! Hope you like it~**

* * *

Midnight. The perfect hour of sneaking. The perfect hour of stealing.

" _Ninja scarf swing!"_

The Ninja was silently making his way up to McFist Industries. He roamed through the streets of Norrisville, until he finally arrived at his destination. Once there, he stared up at the giant pyramid-shaped building, squinting his eyes at the logo above, almost glaring at it.

" _Ninja climb!"_

He reached into the pocket of his suit and brought out two suction cups. He used them to make his way up the tall building, only panting slightly at the thought of getting closer.

Finally, he reached a window. Bringing a sai out, he shouted, _"Ninja cut!"_ and created an opening through it. He made his way inside, casually performing a double backflip before landing back the ground perfectly. He gave one final glare, his blue orbs squinting at his surroundings.

"I'm coming for you Kuno."

Sure, Randy had been in McFist's office dozens of times as the Ninja, but never at night. It felt more eerie, almost creepy, and he didn't exactly felt all that pleasant just being there. "This place is deserted," he mumbled to himself as he walked and looked around. "How can I find the memories in all this?" He gestured to the room, his eyes now desperate.

The boy tapped his chin, deep in thought. "OK, if I was some complicated science experiment, where would I be…" He snapped his fingers. "Viceroy's lab!... _Where_ is that?..."

He just stood in the middle of the room in silence and awkwardness.

"Whatever, I'll just wing it!"

Bad idea. He roamed the entire building, just searching for the right room, but Viceroy's lab seemed to be impossible to find. To make things worse, the entire place was practically _littered_ with Roboapes again. It was harder to move around faster than usual, much less do any looking. It took half an hour for him to fully collapse and rest in a random room. It seemed to be one of the workrooms, because he found a lot of giant cauldrons and tools around.

"This is _not_ working," he gave in.

Why he was trying so hard, no one knew. We all know she's a robot; we all know she can't feel much. Whatever their friendship meant to her was a mystery. Still, Randy was really focused on finding those memories. He _had_ to get his friend back. _'I have to apologize,'_ he claimed.

"Kin, where _are_ you?"

"Ninja?"

Randy whirled around to the entrance and gasped slightly to see Viceroy. His lips were pulled into a confused frown, his hands on his hips as he tilted his head at the boy. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Viceroy," Randy immediately went back to focused fighting position and looked ready to attack the scientist. "You know why I'm here."

"Ummm no. I _don't. McFist_ is out, actually, and forced me to stay here. Unless I think you're here for McFist discount, you'll have to fail getting one next time."

"Well, no, although that does sound tempting. I'm here for Kuno Ichi's memories!"

"Kuno?" This time, Viceroy was even more confused, but he was also slightly enthralled. "What do you want with her?"

"I _want_ her memories back. I know you have them! Best to hand 'em over before someone gets hurt."

"I _stole_ them?" The evil genius was trying hard to stifle a laugh, but he couldn't help it. He let out a loud chortle, making the Ninja confused, as he wiped a tear from his eye. Being the sassy Viceroy he is, he regained composition almost immediately. "Oh, you must be joking. So she really _did_ do her job. You know absolutely nothing!"

"What are you talking about?" Randy demanded. "I said, give me her memor—"

"Master? What is going on?"

The purple-haired teen automatically froze. He knew that voice. His eyes widened slightly when he saw a second figure appear through the doorframe. It was Kuno Ichi herself. The moment she saw the Ninja, she frowned in his direction. Randy didn't notice this and instead just stared at her, his mouth behind his mask now slightly parted.

But being the oblivious one he is, the boy only let out a gasp of relief. "Kuno! Oh, thank cheese. I can't believe you're here! Oh, you must be trying to get your memories back too, am I right? Good, we can work together, and—"

"Kuno, attack."

The robot didn't hesitate to obey her Master's commands. Once he uttered those two words, her frown instantly disappeared and her face went to its expressionless state. She immediately pressed a button on her red bangle and a knife attached to it popped out. She used it to slash its blade against the Ninja's arm, but he instantly dodged it. The attack caused the Ninja's eyes to widen once more. He didn't even have time to contemplate about how he'd never seen her use that from her bangle before. He tried to speak, but Kuno just continued attacking. She kept up her swiping until the Ninja finally brought out a sai to block her last slash. For a moment, it was a battle between blades, but Kuno recoiled first and made one backflip backwards. It must've made more sense now, but the Ninja could only gasp.

"You took her memory of being my fan too? Really, Viceroy! Really!"

" _Baka,"_ Kuno murmured. She pressed another button on the bangle, and the blade grew longer. She charged forward, ready to plunge the sword into the Ninja's stomach, but he blocked it with his sai again. This time, Randy tried to twist things around and turn the blades, as Kuno followed. _"Ninja twist!"_

As she was thrown onto the floor, the Ninja tried to escape by climbing up the walls. He went for an air assault, but almost gasped to see Kuno chasing him. _"Ninja Air Fist!"_

Even with the powerful attack, Kuno managed to slice through it with her blade. As she did that, the Ninja pushed himself off the ceiling and landed back on the floor. He ended up in a position closer to Viceroy now. Before he could move, Kuno landed before him, causing the boy to get trapped in between the two.

"Seriously!" he complained. "You made her an enemy against me? Do you guys really hate me that much?"

"The Ninja is not as smart as he looks," Viceroy scoffed. Kuno only continued to stay in her fighting stance.

"What are you saying?" Now, he had a worried look on his face. It wasn't visible, but the evil genius still smirked.

"Kuno Ichi was _always_ your enemy! All those times she saved you from getting killed? Ha! It's only 'cause _she_ was going to be the one to do it!"

"…Kuno…is this true?"

"Kuno, introduce yourself."

Randy had no idea why that was needed, but the robot girl still obeyed. She retracted from her battle stance and stood straight and tall before the Ninja, as she started to recite her practiced lines for him now:

"My name is Kuno Ichi. I am known as the Female Ninja. Viceroy is my creator and I must respect and obey him. I am to serve the Sorcerer and spy on the Ninja. Because I _will_ be the one to assassinate him."

Now, all the Ninja could do was stare in horror. No. This couldn't be true. But even he started to doubt his own thoughts. Kuno never really told him anything. And even if she did, he always assumed it was the truth. But now…the story about her creator abandoning him. About being the Ninja's fan. About loving music, no matter what. About actually wanting to be his friend as Randy. Was it all a lie? Was anything Kuno ever said was true.

"The truth hurts, doesn't it?" Viceroy let out a prideful chuckle, actually feeling accomplished. But the Ninja wasn't hurt.

In fact, he couldn't feel anything.

"Kuno, attack again."

His head immediately snapped to attention when Kuno was about to strike once more. The soulless dark-brown eyes were now filled with ferocity. _"Ninja Tripping Balls!"_

As Kuno lost her balance for a moment, Randy took the chance to climb up to the ceiling and attack from above again. _"Ninja stars!"_ The weapons held Kuno's jacket and baggy pants down, now making her unable to move. _"Ninja grab!"_ He then used his scarf to hold on to the arm holding the blade and pulled. The robot girl now fully dropped to the ground, as the Ninja had control.

Without thinking, Kuno pulled the adhered arm, exerting more force, as the Ninja fell from the ceiling. "Whoa!" It had come to her attention that he was falling right on top of her at lightning speed. With the extra weight he carried, it seemed to be enough for both of them to drop completely from the floor, cause a giant hole from where they were, and fall down to the next room.

All Viceroy did was stare in shock.

The Ninja was the first to recover. He groaned as he sat up, rubbing his head and body from the debris. "Holy cheese, that _hurt."_ He instantly remembered the position he was in and bolted up.

Kuno was just releasing herself from the ninja stars too. Once she was free, she stood up straight, pressed another button on the bangle, and the blade retracted. Her expression looked deadly now, as if she was ready to take him on bare-handed.

But Randy now saw his chance to finally speak up. "Kuno," he started, feeling his heart in his throat. "This isn't you. Please, I need you to come back."

"I do not understand." For every punch and kick Kuno threw, the Ninja was able to block. He kept on persisting her.

"I know there's a part of you in there that remembers me somehow, whether or not you have your memories!"

"I do not know you, Ninja." When Randy tried punching as well, Kuno only grabbed it and twisted. He let out a shout of pain as he was thrown onto the floor. Luckily, he quickly rolled away before the robot girl could punch his face in.

"No. You do. You _know_ who I am! Kuno, we were best friends! I believe we still are. Viceroy would've known who I was by now if you let him!"

"If I knew your identity, I would have told my Master straightaway."

"But you didn't, did you? You didn't want to! Don't fight the truth Kuno, you wanted to keep my identity a secret! You tried to fight, but he stole your memories anyway. You're not evil! Destroying me isn't your purpose!"

" _Urusai."_ She threw a powerful kick, but like what she did, Randy only took hold of her leg. The robot girl tried to break free, but Randy held tight. He set her leg down, still holding, causing Kuno to look at him in confusion. Through those innocent blue eyes, she could see desperation.

"Show me you're not evil. Show me that at some point, you were telling the truth. I want to trust you. Until now, I still do. I'm really sorry, OK? We just want you back, Kin."

At the sound of her nickname, the robot's eyes slightly widened. It was that one name that managed to strike her. For a moment, Randy had hope. Kuno stopped resisting, and now the two just looked at each other. The robot girl looked like she wanted to say something, and the Ninja just wanted to take her while she wasn't aware and bring her home. But they were both interrupted when Viceroy appeared through the doorframe.

"Do it, Kuno! Destroy him!"

Randy was ready to defend himself, for one second doubting Kuno changed. But then he saw her hesitation and he raised both eyebrows. Her dark brown eyes showed pixels once more as they assessed the situation. The response she gave after indicated they made the right choice.

"No."

" _What?!"_

"No." Kuno turned to look at Viceroy, the pixels scanning wildly in her eyes like fire. "I am sorry, Master."

"Kuno. Fight the Ninja. _Now."_ The evil scientist had never looked more aggravated.

"Master, it is because of the Ninja that I am who I am now. I have a better outlook of life. He taught me how to live, which, on behalf of a robot like me, is theoretically statistically improbable. I am my own self now, _Goshujin. Gomenasai._ I must be able to choose who I want to be. I am capable of choosing the life I want to live. And I am afraid to inform you that it is not this one."

All Randy wanted to do now after that little speech was hug his friend. He thought victory was his for the taking, and shot one prominent look at the scientist. But all Viceroy could focus on was the first sentence Kuno said.

" _You!"_ He jabbed one accusing finger at the Ninja's direction, the antagonized wildfire in his eyes growing larger by the second. _"You_ did this to her! You're never satisfied with just victory, are you Ninja? First you destroy my machines, and now you take them! I probably never should have created a robot in the first place!"

For a moment, Kuno's eyes showed hurt. But then Viceroy turned to her and started screaming. "You are _my_ creation! You _will_ follow me! Whether you like it or not!"

Out of nowhere, Viceroy brought a little remote with a single red button in the middle of it. Kuno's eyes widened, and they showed shock and horror for the very first time. At first, Randy was confused. What was going on? But realization only hit him at the last moment.

If there's one thing in cartoons that people knew about big red buttons, it's that they always lead to no good.

Before Kuno could scream, Viceroy pressed it.

A loud whirring blared to life.

* * *

 **Soooorrryyyyy for the cliffhanger! I had to do it! Kuno made me! (Kuno:** _ **Excuse me—)**_ **OK, maybe she didn't but I had to! It was part of my plannn :3**

 **I'm gonna try updating the next chapter as fast as I can for those that want to know what's gonna happen. I'm actually getting pretty excited! The last two chapters are gonna be** _ **bruce**_ **, I promise! That's right people, I'm not giving up on this fic! Not like I did with my Gravity Falls fic!**

 **Hope you guys'll keep yourselves updated~ Remember, reviews and favorites are always appreciated :3 ;)**


	9. Only One Way

**Chapter 9: Only One Way**

* * *

 **Wow…has it really been more than a month? So sorry guys! School is giving me stress and worry lines. At least I updated right? One reason why I didn't was because I was waiting for someone to favorite this story or something. That didn't work out. Oh well. Chapter 9! :D**

* * *

What exceedingly struck the two was that the sound was coming from a machine that was also in the lab. It was a bizarre-looking machine, but Randy surprisingly recognized it as a duplicator. And Viceroy's little robot, Otto, seemed to be the principal ingredient. Two mechanical arms struck out from the machine and grabbed it, as they brought it over. Otto was just as confused as he saw himself being strapped into a large hole there, and bolted upright when a jolt ran through it. As the machine continued to whir, and Otto started shaking, Kuno suddenly started to scream.

" _Kin?!"_ The Ninja tried running up to help her, panic-struck from her sudden outburst, but the girl robot just backed away. She was holding her head in her hands, as her eyelids were shut tight. She recoiled to floor, clearly in pain now. All Viceroy did was stare down at her.

Then, the screaming stopped.

"Kin…?"

Almost instantly, Kuno bolted upright from her position and kicked at his face.

Normal Randy would've gotten straight up knocked out. But as the Ninja, he dodged again quite easily. Only this time, his eyes showed terror in them. "Kuno?! What's wrong with you?"

Viceroy seemed to be snickering in the background.

Kuno tried for one more kick, followed by a punch. The Ninja dodged them, but only barely. He was too busy gaping. "Kin, what's gotten into you? Talk to me!"

The robot didn't respond. It just kept on punching; the Ninja kept dodging, until finally she got him straight in the face once more. He didn't even try to hold on. The boy was whacked onto the ground completely, now unable to stand up. But he didn't get back on his feet because of the physical pain…

"You see, Ninja?" Viceroy taunted. He pressed another button on a different, bigger remote, and Kuno returned to normal standing position. Her dark brown eyes were now completely red, the pupils not even seen through her metallic gaze. Viceroy patted her shoulder, now proud once again, as he smirked at the fallen warrior. "Appliances can't think twice. They have but one purpose. And that's to serve its owner."

At the moment, all Randy could do was stare at his friend.

"Kin…"

Kuno was ready to strike once more, but the Ninja decided he needed to act. As the robot girl brought her fist down on his body, the boy flipped backwards and dodged it. He saw an open window and quickly saw chance. _"Ninja scarf swing!"_

He was on the sill before he knew it. The second he could've taken to leave, he hesitated and turned around. Kuno didn't even try to go after him. She just stood in fighting stance, as Viceroy squinted up at him, the machine behind them whirring even louder. All Randy could think of was how he'd even gotten into this mess in the first place. All he could do now was look.

Even still, he had confidence.

"I'll come back for you, Kin," he declared. "I promise."

Before the laser from her bangle hit him, he leaped through the window and disappeared into the night.

* * *

"' _The Ninja that can't see might end up getting hurt,'"_ Randy was murmuring. "The Nomicon knew. It knew about Kin from the beginning. It was trying to warn me. That's why it attacked her in the book, because it was trying to protect me. If only we'd known Kin sooner, then maybe none of this would've happened." He then groaned out loud. "This is _really_ annoying!"

"There you go again, Cunningham," Howard had sighed, as Randy told him the big news of the day. It was lunchtime, so he had a foot-long sandwich in his dainty little hands. But at the moment, as he was eating, he listened to the real story about Kuno and kept on nodding at every worry Randy poured out. He may have seemed calm, but in his mind, he was just as concerned as he was. "You're blaming yourself again. How many times do I have to tell ya it's _not_ your fault?"

"Sorry, but…I can't help feeling like it is."

As Randy got all depression mode again, Howard sighed, gulped his entire hotdog down, swallowed, and continued, "Cunningham, you gotta calm down. So Kin is after you. You can just shut her down!"

"I don't want to _hurt_ her, Howard!"

"It's technically not 'hurting' if all you're going to do is turn her off…"

"Yeah, but just _forcing_ her to stop what she's doing isn't going to make things any better."

"She's an emotionless robot! She wouldn't _care_ if we messed her memories again!"

"You don't _know_ the face I saw that night Howard."

"OK, maybe she will, but she has to be stopped _somehow!"_

"I don't want to _fight her."_

"You're the _Ninja!_ You _have_ to fight! If she's out to destroy you or the city, you got to decide: it's either Norrisville, or one machine."

"You can't ask me to choose between that! I didn't choose for _you!"_

"This is different! She's a _robot!"_

"She's our _friend_!"

" _I KNOW THAT!"_

Randy almost jumped at his friend's sudden outburst. The purple-haired teen stared at the gingerhead, eyes slightly widened as Howard looked away. He had a rather ire expression on his face. "Of _course_ I know she's our friend…Kin was one of the coolest friends we've ever had! And I don't want to hurt her as much as you do. But when you find the advantages and disadvantages of someone, you have to _use them._ Even when they're one of the closest people we know."

He reached up and placed a hand on the taller teen's shoulder, now looking into his blue orbs. Randy stared right back, the shorter boy's wise words burning into his mind. It was actually astonishing, and something he never thought he'd hear from him. But he didn't say that, and just placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder back with a smile.

"OK, buddy. I guess you're right. Thanks for that."

"Ah, don't mention it."

"Might I add, that was just _really_ deep right there!"

"I know right! Honestly, I don't even know where all that came from. Must be the urge to pick a fight…"

"Randy? Howard? Is everything all right?"

Out came a voice Randy knew all too well now. The two boys looked up and eye widened when they saw Theresa and her best friend, Debbie Kang. The girls looked down at the boys at the picnic table, looking slightly confused at why they looked so emotional. Randy weakly smiled up at the purple-haired girl. "Hey, Theresa. Uh, yeah…everything's good."

Meanwhile, Howard and Debbie were squinting at each other so much, it was like their eyes were about to disappear. They acknowledged each other anyway.

"…Howard."

"…Kang."

"Ahem!" Randy fake-coughed, clearing his throat. "So, uh, what are you girls doing here?"

"We were just worried," Theresa said in a concerned tone. "We saw you guys all the way from over there and got curious."

"More like 'Resa was," Debbie put in. "I just followed her over."

"Rest assured, ladies. Everything is completely fine."

"GUESS AGAIN!"

A loud _boom_ emanated throughout the area. It was later followed by what sounded like giant crickets. Everyone in the school heard it, and immediately directed their attention to what Howard was pointing at upwards. They all gasped when they realized the sound was caused by dozens and dozens of large, angry, purple _robots._ They chattered their mechanical teeth, as their red, red eyes glowed, brightly and neared the closest thing they saw before chomping it to bits. Once the Norrisvillians got through the fact they were dangerous, everyone began to scream and flee away from the machines that were about to destroy their homes.

What's weird was that Randy recognized those bots.

" _Otto?"_

He was interrupted by the sound of Theresa's screaming, when one of the Ottobots was directing a laser at her. Randy sprung to action and tackled her down, right before the laser hit the wall behind them instead. Howard and Debbie gasped, mouths agape, and Theresa was just breathed heavily, only thinking about how she owed the boy her life. The purple-haired teen snapped them all out of it before she could.

" _Go, go, go!"_

Instantly, Howard took both girls and practically yelled at them to get inside the school. Meanwhile, much to Theresa's confusion, Randy went the other direction, as he went to look for a good spot to put his mask on. Once he found one, he squinted his eyes at the bots. "It's Ninja time."

As he became the Ninja, he immediately threw himself at the bots. _"Smokebomb!"_ Randy cried out, appearing back on the lunch table. When the bots saw him, it was as if they immediately hissed in harmony. Their first instinct: attack.

"All right, Otto. Let's see what Viceroy did wrong with you."

The first two robots surged forward, ready to chomp, but Randy dodged them. More robots started to attack, but her then wielded his sword to start slicing them up. _"Ninja slice!"_ Once broken, he instantly moved to the other bots.

Some were in the school, chasing students, threatening to chomp at them and shoot lasers. The Ninja burst through the doors and his eyes enlarged at such chaos. In the corner, he could see Debbie screaming while Howard cowered behind her and Theresa. Another bot was trying to chomp them, and they couldn't find another way to escape.

" _Ninja ring!"_ With that robot down, the three finally relaxed.

"Way to be on time, Ninja!" Howard yelled.

" _Howard!"_ Theresa scolded.

There was another robot the Ninja demolished, and they immediately jerked back to reality, running away in the process. Randy continued to throw rings and slice bots, but he was still squinting at them all.

"Honking cheese, Viceroy! What are you _planning_ right now?"

As if to answer his question, an Ottobot bared its teeth and just slammed into him. Suddenly, he was flying, right into the hallways. Before he knew it, his head hit a set of lockers and he slumped to the floor. Randy groaned as he sat back up.

"Why is everything spinning…?"

As he shook his head, he noticed something else. There was a really bright light glowing, and it was coming from the cafeteria. Randy slowly stood up and neared it cautiously. When he opened the door, he just gaped. _"Whaaaaa…"_

Once again, he saw Kuno there. But she was _definitely_ not herself. A whirlwind had entered the room, and it was causing many messes and that week's mystery meat to go flying off the tables. Her blue hair was flying all over the place. Her pixelated dark brown eyes were now a pure, glowing red. More Ottobots were circling her, spinning and spinning, which seemed to be the cause of all the wind. They were no help at all in cleaning anything either. If Randy didn't know any better, everything appeared to be under her control.

"Kin? Kin! Kuno!"

His first instinct was to run towards her. But she had already noticed his presence, and raised a hand at him. The Ottobots followed her gaze and charged themselves at the enemy. Bringing his sword out once more, Randy cut every single one of them all up again. _"Ninja slice, ninja slice, ninja slice…!"_

Before Kuno could react, Randy tackled her to the ground. He was holding onto her wrists, resisting her from punching his face, grunting as his foot dug into her mechanical knee. He struggled against her wriggling, and grappled more when she tried shooting a laser from her finger. It sort of confused him in that millisecond. Must've been an upgrade? He directed the finger upwards just in time. However, the laser was causing the ceiling to break out so to avoid either of them getting hurt, the robot girl switched their positions.

Randy tried not to yell at her robotic strength, and moved his head to dodge another laser. One thing was for sure: she had _definitely_ gotten an upgrade. A mere push like before wasn't going to faze her. "Kin!" he yelled from the wind. "It's me!"

As if that was going to work again. An Ottobot that managed to revived used its new mechanical arms to grab the Ninja by the shoulders and hold him out for Kuno. Before she could punch, Randy noticed his legs were free. _"Ninja kick!"_ As she stumbled from the critical hit to the face, Randy punched the Ottobot aside and brought weapons out.

" _Ninja tripping balls!"_ With them, Kuno fell to the ground and her metal skull hit the floor. A conscious of her old self caused her to stay down. Then he turned to the Ottobot.

" _Ninja boom ball!"_ In a single blow, it exploded and was destroyed, its robot parts flying everywhere. But the Ninja didn't care. Now that all the bots were down, he turned back to his actual friend.

Before the robot could stand up, Randy brought out another secret weapon. _"Ninja cuff, ninja cuff, ninja cuff, ninja cuff!"_ Each one attached to the floor, over Kuno's wrists and ankles. She was now properly restricted to the ground, and struggling now wasn't going to help at all.

Once Randy realized their position, he chuckled nervously. "OK, if you remember anything after all this, just know it isn't what it looks like."

Kuno was in no mood for a laugh. The more she struggled, the wilder she got. She couldn't busted out of those cuffs any moment now. In fact, she was starting to use her laser fingers. But the Ninja needed time.

"Ahhh, hold up, hold up, at least give me a chance to talk! Kin, I didn't want to hurt you. I _know_ this isn't you. I don't care what Viceroy did, I just want you back. I'm really hoping you're in there somewhere, 'cause when I fix you now…well, I hope you remember I'm your best friend."

Only thing he got in reply was a blood red glare and one free wrist.

"That was barely one minute! OK, enough Mr. Nice Ninja."

Randy reached forward to unzip her jacket, but her now-free hand stopped him. He used his other hand to pry it off, but he quickly opened her heart panel once she was using her laser again. He found the wire and, connected it to his phone, and watched as her body stopped thrashing and then lay still. Her eyes died down and she waited for the rebooting. "OK…memories, language process, attack modes, holographic summer photos…wow, Viceroy had time…"

He then found a file marked "Plan B: Kill Mode"

" _Ninja delete!"_ Once he clicked the button, the file disappeared and he restored everything.

Kuno's body jolted up. Her eyes were returning to their normal dark brown hue and analyzed the situation and the updated data. Once she was clear, she blinked away the pixels and watched Randy slowly uncuff her. As they stared at each other, Randy only prayed it worked…

 _Blink._

 _Blink._

 _Blink._

"…Ninja…"

The purple-haired teen felt his heart break.

"I mean, Randy…"

"… _Kin!"_

With a broken laugh, he wrapped his arms around the robot girl as she sat up. He could feel her tense slightly against him, but he smiled wider as she started to hug back.

From behind him, Randy didn't see her smile.

"I was so worried," the boy said, pulling away and placing a hand on her shoulder. "You won't even _believe,_ I mean seriously, don't do that again!"

"My apologies," Kuno said blankly. Her blank voice certainly hasn't changed. "I did not intend to get you troubled over me."

"Troubled? Kin, you're my friend. Of course I care."

"Then I am well. There is no need to worry any longer." He could've sworn she was smirking at him.

"I thought Viceroy had you."

"Negative. Viceroy may be smart, but I had a back-up memory file in case he tried to take over me."

"So he's not your master anymore?"

" _Hai…"_ Kuno nodded. Her face still may have been blank but Randy knew her well enough to tell something else was on her mind. "I apologize for all I have done."

"Kin, I understand. Don't worry."

"Randy…I know I am a robot, and I do not have much feelings…but I am terrified."

Her words practically melted his heart. "Hey, it's OK…" He reached over and put an arm over her shoulders. For a moment, the Ninja didn't pay attention to the screams and destruction outside. With his ears open to only his robot friend, his attention was only directed at her as well. "We'll figure it all out…when we put an end to Viceroy and force him to stop all the Ottobots, we can go back to being normal friends! Just you, me, Howard, occasionally you'll have to sit back and watch Theresa and I on dates…Oh, by the way, may I ask about, oh I don't know, _everything?"_

Kuno frowned. "I am afraid I cannot say as much as I hope to say. After you left last night, I was hearing noises from the machine Otto was placed in. It had created a complete replica of the robot. That bot was more aggressive than the Otto I knew. And that was intended, for it was created to make whoever duplicated it a better, more violent version. Before I could see the next one come to life, my inner consciousness was knocked out. Until you deleted my kill mode." She paused for a second. "The bots cannot be destroyed one by one, for with every kill, a new duplicated bot is made. If I know my m—I mean Viceroy, well, it is that he is fond of creating his inventions with, as humans call, 'autopilot'. Viceroy could destroy his machine if he wanted to. But he cannot shut it down. Dismantling it is quite difficult as well. He had spent many months creating that duplicator, even before a time where I was just a thought. It is a perfect model of termination. Too perfect to the fact that it will never stop functioning."

"So there's really nothing we can do?!" It was a lot to take in, but Randy understood that much,

Unfortunately, Kuno nodded. "Yes…I am afraid so."

"No!" Kuno stared up at Randy who just bolted upright from the floor and stomped over to the window. It hurt him to see all those people shrieking and running away. He whipped his mask off in frustration and Kuno watched for the first time as the suit began to peel away, revealing her friend. He turned back to the robot, and she could see the flames of fury in his pupils. "I can't believe that we failed. The Ninja has never given up once, and I'm not going to start now. There has to be _some way_ to save Norrisville! The Ninja has dealt with worse. We are _not_ going to end up dying by the mechanical hands of those robots."

"But Randy, they are unstoppable. It is impossible—"

"Where's the Kuno Ichi I know? When it comes to you, _nothing_ is impossible! Come on, Kin, think, there has to be _something_ to destroy that machine!"

The robot girl frowned and turned away. "I cannot think of much. Perhaps it would be possible if we managed to take Otto out of Viceroy's invention. But he is practically glued to it. Detaching him will take a great deal of force; in fact, the only way to remove him is if someone or something were to throw themselves at the power grid and shutting it down completely—"

Suddenly, Kuno stopped herself. The gears in her mechanical mind were turning rapidly, and her dark brown eyes literally lit up. They were scanning the idea that had just come into her mind and Randy watched her mouth open slightly. He stared at her hopefully, believing she got something. Yes, she got something.

" _Sacrifices must be made to save the ones you love…"_

"What?"

The boy didn't notice her frown.

"I believe it is more possible than I thought it would be."

"Aw, yes!" Randy cheered, pumping his fist.

"There is only a 64% that this would work, though…"

"What? So the other something percent is…"

"The other 36%, the entire city and the citizens living here would die from the impact of the explosion this will probably cause. But it is really the only way."

"It's worth a shot! We got no other options. Lead the way, Kin!"

" _Hai…_ but first…" She lifted her wrist and Randy noticed her bangle. Once she pressed a button on it, blue and black threads came out, and she was back in her Kunoichi suit.

"At least that part of you hasn't changed." With a grin, Randy put his mask back on and they exited the cafeteria through the window.

Ignoring the chaos displayed above them, the two began to run away from the school. However, they were only halfway through the courtyard when they heard a voice call out. "Kuno!"

The two froze and slowly turned around to see Theresa running up to them. Randy's eyes enlarged at the sight of her, just running across the battlefield. She literally just ran around a thrown car that landed right in front of her. ("My car!" Principal Slimovitz yelled.)

"Theresa Fowler?!" the Ninja cried, Randy pretending he didn't know her again. "What are you doing?! Get out of here!"

The girl ignored him. She went up to Kuno and laughed breathlessly. "Thank cheese you're all right! You know, Randy and Howard were really worried about you!"

Kuno glanced over at the Ninja, who only coughed and seemed to be paying very lose attention to a tree. _"Arigatou,_ Theresa, I am well. The Ninja and I were currently on our way to try destroying all these robots."

"Uh, yeah!" the Ninja cut in. "You really must be staying inside with all the other students, it's dangerous for a girl like you to be out here in this kind of situation…" A car exploded from behind him.

"Well, OK…I just wanted to make sure things were fine…I mean, I was concerned about Kuno. And I was hoping you knew where Randy was…"

The Ninja and the robot girl suddenly exchanged looks. Kuno's expression was blank, but Randy read it well. If he wanted things to work out, he had to tell her.

"Kuno, could you excuse us for a moment?" he said, trying not to sound too awkward. "You can go ahead, I'll just catch up in a bit…"

"Of course," Kuno bowed slightly and nodded at Theresa. "It was a pleasure knowing you." Before Theresa could respond, Kuno took off.

"Please tell me I'm not going to die," Theresa said, laughing a bit at what the robot girl had said.

The Ninja laughed a bit too louder than he expected at that. "Whaaat? No, no, I just, um…" He cleared his throat. "Theresa, there's something I need to tell you…"

"OK…spill."

"Well, um…" He looked away for a moment, taking a deep breath before ready to announce his secret.

"Randy, you're the Ninja."

"Theresa, I'm Randy—Wait, what?" His startled expression caused the teenage girl to laugh out loud, but the purple-haired boy was still speechless. "How-How did you know?!"

"Oh come on, Randy, you were making it obvious enough," Theresa grinned at him innocently. "Your voice was familiar too."

"Wow…so much for keeping things low-profile."

"But really…whenever I look into your eyes…I can just _tell_ you're Randy…" The short-haired girl was staring at the floor, blushing madly, as she couldn't bring herself to look at him.

Randy only stared down at her, his mouth slowly curving into a small smile. "You're really smart, 'Resa. I should've known you'd find out eventually."

She then looked up to him, a grin plastered on her face. "T-Thank you…also, is it true that Kuno is a robot? I sort of couldn't understand Howard through his ranting…"

When he should've been mad, Randy forced himself to laugh. "Ah, that Howard…but yeah, Kin's a robot."

"I knew it!"

"Now, that was pretty obvious, wasn't it?"

"Should've gotten a clue from the way she spoke…"

The two then laughed together, as it slowly died down and suddenly turned into a stare-off. For a moment, they were just gazing into each other's eyes, neither one of them moving a muscle. For a moment, they'd forgotten about everything. No chaos. No screaming. No robots destroying the city. It was just the two of them together…and for a moment, that was all that mattered.

Until Randy felt the presence of a lamppost about to collapse on them. He frantically tackled her to the ground, pushing her just in time for the post to fall in the exact spot they were just standing in. The light bulb crashed onto the grass, destroying it, and both teens looked up to see an Ottobot. It bared its teeth at them, as if annoyed they weren't killed and charged.

" _Ninja boom balls!"_ Instantly, the robot was destroyed, and Theresa yelped as she dodged its head from falling on her. When the two looked at each other again, Randy was more stern.

"You have to get inside, Theresa."

"What about you and Kuno?"

"We're going to stop all this. She said she had a plan, and I trust her. We'll fix everything."

"But what if—"

"Hey, don't worry! We're going to be fine. I promise." When he smiled, he only hoped he was telling the truth.

Theresa forced herself to nod slowly. "OK…I trust you guys…but, before you go…"

She proceeded walking towards him slowly. He only looked at her, unfazed. Theresa reached over and began to roll up the lower part of his mask, until it revealed his mouth. At that, Randy felt himself take a breath. Before he could react, she pressed her lips against his, and time just stopped. He'd never been kissed before, and this first time with Theresa was simply amazing. All he wanted to do now was close his eyes and melt into their sweet bliss, but the ground began to shake. They were snapped back to reality, and quickly pulled away.

"Go, go!" Randy shouted, giving her a push towards the school. Theresa no longer needed to be told. She just turned and sprinted back into the still-settled building. Randy only prayed she would be all right.

"Randy." The Ninja suddenly turned to find Kuno right behind him. Her face was blank once again, but it had a stricter mien on it. She looked at him once and nodded. "Let us go."

He didn't want to admit it to his friend, but he too was terrified. However, his responsibility as the city's hero was first priority. He sighed inwardly, walked to her side and nodded as well.

"Yeah. Come on."

* * *

 **Hope this made up for that one-month hiatus! Please continue to wait until the tenth and final chapter! I'm not going to give up on this story! :D I actually can't wait to write it, but I must focus on my grades first.**

 **Speaking of grades, wish me luck guys. I'm so failing in all my subjects. I need all the luck I can get. My exams are coming up next week and I have never prayed so much xD Grades somehow managed to be important to me. I need to get top scores so I can get into my dream college and finally leave my country. Only then can I fulfill my dream as screenwriter.**

 **OK, there I go again, anyways wish me luck, hope you enjoyed this chapter and see ya'll in more or less another month! :3**


	10. Arigatou

**Chapter 10: Arigatou**

* * *

 **GIRLDEMO55 I FINISHED ANGEL BEATS AND I LOVED IT**

 **Thanks for sort-of introducing it and I'm happy to proclaim that the final song to be sung in this chapter is My Soul, Your Beats! To everyone who doesn't know, I used the English lyrics by Nicki Gee; check her out on YouTube :3 I also recommend watching the anime, it's awesome.**

 **But now back to the business. It's the final chapter, guys! Thanks so much for sticking to this fic until the very end. There weren't many people that favorited, but an old reviewer once told me that as long as there are some people that read and like, that's should be enough :) Thank you so much to all that** _ **have**_ **reviewed, added this story to their favorites, and followed. You may now unfollow it since this will be the very last chapter!**

 **I really hope you like it ^^**

* * *

' _Why is she so calm?'_

Randy was frowning as he punched Ottobots left and right, slicing some in half and blasting others with Ninja balls. Whenever they came across a screaming Norrisvillian, he would save him or her just in time. But while he was so intent on destroying them all, Kuno was just…walking.

She didn't flinch when they saw an Ottobot cornering someone, she would merely bypass them, leaving the Ninja to take care of the problem himself. He was flabbergasted, wondering what the cheese was on her mind right now. He couldn't really do anything about it, and just tried catching up to her.

"Kin!" he cried out, running up to her side. "Honking cheese, Kuno Ichi, what is _up_ with you?"

"I am afraid I cannot tell you that," Kuno replied stoically. "Please continue to follow."

He had no choice but to obey; and it was no soon that they had neared the McFist Industries.

"Whoa," Randy gaped up at the tall building, watching as more robots continued to produce from the top. The source of all the Ottobots was literally the entire area, and all the purple-haired teen wanted to do was burn it all. If he could bring the building to its knees at the very moment, he could. He would desperately want to. For now, all he could do was stare up, feeling ounces of terror surging up in his body, as the bots just kept multiplying…

"We have arrived," Kuno declared.

"I am aware," Randy said bluntly. "Kin, are you seriously suggesting we take over McFist Industries ourselves?"

"Not precisely," she responded. "We shall need all the help we can get. And we must start with the man who started it all."

"McFist?"

"Are you serious."

"I'm just messing with ya. But really, Viceroy's loco in the coco at the moment, if you know what I mean."

"No, I am afraid I do not."

" _The point is,_ going back to the person who created you and clearly ran away from is a completely bad idea!"

"I did not run away from him, Randall, you merely rebooted me, restored my memories, and destroyed my tracking device."

"You had a tracking device?"

"Never mind. We still need to talk to him. It is voluntary."

"OK, you know what? Why don't we just _sneak in_ like the Ninjas we are and destroy the duplicating Otto machine ourselves."

"Randy, is there a reason you do not want to see Viceroy."

"I'm just sayin'! I'm afraid if I have to look at him in the eye, I'd Ninja-ball his sorry behind out of Norrisville. _He_ started all this, and he _has_ to pay for it!"

"As you have mentioned, Randy, he also built me."

At that, the Ninja was silent, and all that was heard was the sound of destruction.

"…You know I know that. But I hate the fact he tried to change you, for not being who you are. I couldn't my friend suffer."

"I strongly appreciate your loyalty, Randy Cunningham." When her brown orbs gazed into his blue ones, she had to smile. "Thank you for standing up to me. But we have to face him. As I have said, I have a plan."

"I know. Let's kick some Otto-butt."

Behind the other side of the door, the Ottobots perked right up when they heard banging. It seemed as if someone was knocking on the industry entrance. And _not_ in the good way. One robot thought otherwise and thought it would be polite to open the door for them.

It was a mistake to do so, because that very robot was knocked right down by the same door. All Ottobots got into position and glared at the Ninja that had just kicked down a new hole in their building. Randy only smirked at them as he brought out his Ninja sword. Kuno held a stoic expression as she held up her Ninja stars, but a burning fire raged through her eyes as she looked at the bots. Without even thinking, the bots let out a loud battle cry and charged.

The same routine was repeated once again.

Randy stabbed Ottobots this time, appearing practically murderous as he swung through the room on his scarf and viciously carved out their internal systems. He did not hesitate to leave out a single one, and was too focused to even say his signature "Ninja slice, ninja slice!" catchphrase anymore. He was performing just like Kuno, who was merely standing in one place as she targeted any robot coming for her. She successfully proved her perfect hand-eye coordination, as she as well never missed a shot. Some robots were risky enough to try stealth approach. Others were smart enough to flee. But no bot in the room made it out the same way.

Once all was quiet once again, only one robot was left, and it was shaking rather frightfully. It tried to escape, but Kuno used her last Ninja star and pinned that antennae on top of him to the wall. It shook even more ferociously when both Ninjas neared it.

"Where is Viceroy?" Kuno asked calmly.

The terrified little bot shook itself vigorously.

"Talk!" Randy demanded, aiming a Ninja sai dangerously close to its eyes. The Ottobot let out a horrified squeak.

"Now, Randy," Kin gently put a hand on his wrist and set the sai down. "We must be delicate with the creature. A trapped animal is no good dead…yet." The robot was frozen up now. "Where is McFist? You can at least tell us that, yes?"

Only hesitating for a few seconds, the bot reluctantly scanned his data for a map. The pixels in its eyes were visible for just a few milliseconds before a holographic illustration of the industry was shown to the two. The Ottobot zoomed into the 3D map and viewed a certain room.

"There he is," Kuno declared, pointing. "In Viceroy's lab."

"Then he's with Viceroy!" the Ninja exclaimed. "He'll lead us to the duplicating machine."

"Thank you for your cooperation," Kuno said solemnly. The bot only continued to shake. "…Unfortunately, you are never going to be needed." With one swift motion, she took one of Randy's sais and stabbed the Ottobot, almost hearing a little scream as its database was punctured. Just like with all the others, the light in its eyes died down and it stopped functioning.

Despite everything that happened, Randy was still uncomfortable as his friend handed him back his weapon. "Why'd you do that? We could've let the little guy free."

Kin did not respond immediately when she pulled her shuriken out of the wall. "There will only be one robot that will ever be needed in my life again," she said quietly.

It was only at that moment did Randy comprehend how much Kuno was close with Otto. He wasn't just another invention companion to Viceroy's collection, but he was literally Kuno's first mechanical friend. He was there first when she was brought into the world. He was there for her when she needed time off Viceroy. The day she had met Randy, it was only then did she realize it. And now that she knows there are grave actions being done upon him, the robot girl wants nothing more than to rescue the little bot that was literally with her her whole life. This was more than just about saving the city now.

"Hang in there, Kin," Randy said, patting her shoulder lightly. "Come on, let's head down."

She didn't hesitate in following him.

When they arrived at the lab entrance, Randy swiftly kicked the door down again. "All right, Viceroy, give it up!" Randy yelled out. "We've come to—" He cut himself off when he noticed something. "Wait, what?"

The whole lab was empty. No machine, no Otto, no Viceroy. There were only a few things to be seen, and one of them was a platform. It appeared that it was lifting something from the lab and up into the rooftop for more air to occupy it. Upon gazing upwards, Kuno got from the limited vision she had that the machine was _there._

Another thing they noticed was that there was something dangling from the ceiling, and the sight was more than just for sore eyes. "McFist?" the Ninja questioned.

" _You two! Get me down from here!"_

The sight was rather entertaining. McFist seemed to be caught in the old foot-in-a-rope trap, as he was literally hanging from one of Viceroy's large tubes, struggling with all (or not all) his might to get himself free, only to end to no avail. Randy was already bursting into fits of hilarity, while Kuno found difficulty in sustaining a smile. This made the older man angrier.

"Oh, _haha_ very funny, but I bet _you_ wouldn't like it if your blood was ALREADY REACHING UP TO YOUR HEAD!"

"Should we leave him, Kuno?" the Ninja joked. "I think that blood would do him some good. It'll finally get his brains working."

" _WHY YOU LITTLE—"_

"Let us get him down, Ninja," Kuno insisted, already reaching for the rope. "We need him."

Before Randy could contradict, the robot girl sliced the rope into two with her shuriken. McFist slammed onto the floor before he could even scream.

" _You couldn't have gotten me down the proper way?!"_

"No," Randy said.

"Tell us, McFist," Kuno said. "Is Viceroy up there?"

"Why should I help _you?!"_ the man shouted.

"Uh, you do realize we _just_ helped you from getting TBI, right?" Randy asked.

"How would you know?! You probably even made it worse!"

"Just answer the honking question!"

"I don't want _anything_ to do with you, Ninja! _Or you!"_ He jabbed a hasty, impugning finger at Kuno and squinted daggers at her. "This is all _your fault!_ I _knew_ creating you was a bad idea from the start!"

"Bet you always claimed she was your idea," the Ninja muttered behind his mask.

"Viceroy was obsessed with you for three months! You were supposed to be _my_ greatest plan! You just _had_ to go haywire, _didn't you!"_

"I did not malfunction," Kuno said. "I found the truth."

" _Potato, potatoh!_ The point is, _Viceroy_ outsmarted _me,_ and HE'S NOT SUPPOSED TO DO THAT!"

"Calm your cheese, McFist!" Randy exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "We understand, you think you're the smarter one, but everything will be back to normal when we defeat Viceroy and stop all this from happening! Then you can fight me just like old times without any more problems about Viceroy outsmarting you again."

"Ooh! Sounds promising!" Kuno deadpanned at how easily he fell for that. "In that case, he's up there."

" _Arigatou,"_ the robot girl had to say.

"Come on, Kin!" Randy cried out, starting to climb the platform support. Kuno followed in pursuit. A smiling McFist was just still sitting on the floor, appearing to be proud for having done himself a good deed.

"Oh, yeah! McFist?! After all this, you'll have to be fighting Kuno as well too!"

"Right," Kuno forced herself to say. She didn't technically have to say anything, but it just came out.

It took a really long time for the older man to figure out what that meant. "Hm…hmmm…hm…wait. Did he just say…I would have _two_ kids to deal with?" His eyes widened when he answered his own question. "….. _NINJAS!"_

All that he could hear now was the sound of Randy's laugh.

The two just continued to climb and climb. They probably should have taken the stairs, but this was way faster. Randy looked down at Kuno and grinned widely. "We're almost there!" he proclaimed.

Kuno only nodded. In her mind, she was not all too excited to make it to the top. Though she had a plan, it still didn't mean she liked it. But this was for the world…

"Kin."

The robot girl suddenly perked up and quickly climbed up to his side, where Randy was now staring at the area they were in. They appeared to be in McFist's office. But it was very, very different. Hundreds of Ottobots were flying around, and most of them were flying out of the now broken roof above the building. In the middle, there stood the machine Randy had seen before. It was whirring even more now, and was as lively as ever; and very much functioning. A single antenna was positioned up over the machine and out the building. There seemed to be a pod right on top of it, but it was hard to make out what was inside of it. It looked as if it was getting its energy from the lightning in the dark clouds that now occupied the skies. There was only one person standing guard in front of the contraption and that was the inventor himself. It didn't seem like Viceroy was planning on destroying it anytime soon.

"Ready, Kin?" Randy asked, still smiling at her.

' _No.'_

" _Hai."_

" _Smokebomb!"_

Ottobots turned to the shout-out and Viceroy coughed from all the smoke. It was thick, so he couldn't see anything at first, but that catchphrase alone gave him an answer. He glared in the direction of the voice, as the smoke finally cleared, and the Ninja and Kuno Ichi were standing in pose.

"Viceroy!" the Ninja reprimanded. "We are here to stop you! Might as well give up!"

"Ninja," Viceroy only murmured, crossing his arms and letting out a snort. "So nice of you to finally join us. And you brought my robot."

"She's not yours anymore, Viceroy. You never could control her in the first place."

"It's always about you, isn't it? You just have to get everything! You even took my greatest invention!"

"I didn't take her! I just showed her the side that will _always_ win."

The evil genius clenched his fists. "You are incorrect, Ninja. _I_ am in control now. In just a few minutes, I will have all of Norrisville in the palm of my hand! I will have everyone under my ruling!"

"Not if we can help it! We are gonna take. You. _Down!"_

"Are you, really? Ottobots, attack!" The purple duplicates glared, ready to strike.

"Let's do this," Randy said, ready to slice once again.

Only then did he realize how incredibly quiet the robot girl was. Her eyes seemed even duller than ever, and if not, even more deadly. She seemed to be muttering something under her breath; an enchantment Randy couldn't make out. Was it in Japanese? Before he could decipher or even guess the accent, a long, straight, clean, _sharp_ blade appeared out of her red bangle. She took the sword by its handle and held it up to her face. When she looked at the Ottobots, her eyes turned red.

It took only one swish of the weapon to slice up an entire row of floating Ottobots. The rest now jolted to full attention, freezing up when they saw how agile she did it. Even Randy and Viceroy were shocked. But Kuno wasn't finished. She retreated to proper standing position and began walking towards the machine.

"G-Get her!" Viceroy stammered out. "Destroy! Destroy her!" The Ottobots were hesitant, but they still oveyed.

Unfortunately, they should've seen their fate coming. Every time a bot would get within ten feet of reach, they would be immediately sliced down. Kuno kept walking. One tried upgrading and used a _gun_ to shoot at her. The robot girl only dodged them all, still swiftly, and managed to slice that one down as well. Viceroy was panicking, as she started getting even closer and closer to the machine. He tried bringing out a remote control and produce more Ottobots, but Kuno kicked it away. Before it could land on the floor, she cut it in half. As it landed in between them, Kuno jabbed her sword in Viceroy's face. He sucked in a strident breath as he held his hands up, his back pressed against the machine while the tip was centimeters away from his face, and their position was nothing more than of a predator and its prey.

Randy whistled from behind the Ninja mask. "Upgrade."

Kuno was staring down at the scientist with her old, apathetic face. "You are at fault."

"S-So what if I am."

"You started it all."

"OK."

"You created me."

"Yes."

"You created this machine."

"Yes!"

"And you are bringing the destruction of Norrisville."

" _Yes!_ What are you implying?"

"You have created many things in the past. Yet they have still not reached to its full content."

This caused Viceroy confusion. Even the Ninja was scratching his head. "Uh, are you saying everything he's doing is a failure?"

Kuno looked straight into her friend's eyes. "Yes."

" _Why, you—"_ Viceroy tried to burst into complaints, but Kuno threatened with her sword again.

"I never understood why you were preparing me to destroy the Ninja. My data told me it was an inconceivable act, yet I was programmed to do what you asked. I almost followed you. I almost did the wrong thing."

"Exactly!" Viceroy choked. "We're villains! We're supposed to do the wrong thing!"

'That is not who I am. It is not my fate. You could have chosen to be good, but you didn't. That is your fate. But destroying the world is not part of your plan."

"You don't know anything about me, Kuno."

"Of course I do. You raised me. I may not follow in your footsteps, but I am still your creation. Everything you have made has been destroyed by the Ninja, or have turned against you. You are a failure, but you still try. That is what makes you Viceroy. And I know for a fact world domination is not a part of your heart. I may be a disappointing invention, but I know my creator. Master, _goshujin,_ I only ask that you see reason."

That was a _really_ weird inspirational speech. Randy was especially confused, continuing to scratch his head like there was no tomorrow. "Ummm…Kin? I don't think that's—"

Much to his surprise, Viceroy started bursting into tears. Randy stared as he spread his arms out and engulfed Kuno in a heart-warming hug. She unfalteringly hugged back. Randy stood and looked around awkwardly as a creator and his robot just cried and hugged for way more than just a few seconds. As he was looking, his eyes widened to look out the window as see more bots terrorizing the city. Most of the buildings were practically in flames, and the fire department was struggling to tend to all of them. People have almost given up stopping them, but the robots haven't. If anything, they were getting bigger. Stronger. Much more destructive.

"Kin!" he screamed out. The robot girl pulled away gently, already knowing of what he was aware of. She stared and placed her hands on her creator's shoulders.

"You aren't a disappointment," he sniffed. "I should've just let you be you. Made another robot. Something. I shouldn't have overreacted."

"Yes, you shouldn't have," Kuno agreed.

"I probably should have made a replacement for you. Then none of this would have happened."

"Yes, you should have."

"Some family," Randy murmured. "OK, is anyone _not noticing the fire and the people dying?!"_

"Master," Kuno said, breathing like this would be the last time she would call him that. "May I be allowed to destroy your machine?"

"You should know by now it is indestructible, Kuno," Viceroy frowned. "I can't stop it. And if I can't, neither can you."

"We have to try. Otto is in there."

It was only then did Viceroy realize his biggest, most idiotic mistake. He horror-filled eyes whirled over to the giant antenna above the machine. They all gazed up at the pod, which kept getting stricken by the lightning, and only then did the two ninjas realize that the purple robot was up there, in that pod, having been struck just as many times and was now ready to break off and fall.

" _My Otto!"_ Viceroy cried in trepidation.

"You really should have thought this through," Randy said, walking up to him.

"I have a plan," Kuno said, nodding slowly. She made sure they didn't see her inhale deeply. This was it. "Viceroy, you need to head out of the building. I'll be sure to get Otto out with the Ninja safely. We will shut down you invention, I promise."

He was still looking pretty shaken up, but he placed a hasty hand on his robot's shoulder. "I trust you, Kuno Ichi. I wish you luck." He then turned to Randy and squinted his eyes as he adjusted his glassed. "Take care of her, all right?" The Ninja laughed awkwardly, but still wisely chose to nod.

With that, the evil scientist left the building.

"He has gone," Kuno noted.

"Well, duh," Randy said, laughing lightly.

"Now you go."

"Wait, what?" This definitely wasn't in the plan.

"I am going to enter the duplicator. Using my database, I can transfer a kill code. That will set Otto free, and he can fly out, but it will also cause the machine to collapse."

Randy hesitated slightly longer than he'd expected. "Wait…so does that mean…the place is gonna _explode?"_

"Yes."

"No!" Kuno was not surprised by his sudden outburst. Randy's face was now covered with expressions of anxiety and alarm, as he stared at his friend in a complete different manner now. "Y-You can't…you said that it was possible to shut this down!"

"I did. This is the only solution."

"But it can't be! Can't we just destroy the antenna or something?!"

"We cannot. The power grid is down here. If the antenna were to be dismantled from the duplicator, everything would collapse at once. The city would be destroyed within minutes."

"But, Kin…there _has_ to be another way! You're going to get yourself killed!"

"I am a robot. I do not—"

" _I know that!_ Be real with me, Kin, come on!" He was pleading now. The Ninja took Kuno by the shoulders and tried shaking some sense into her. "You're throwing yourself into your own doom! You might never come back! We'll never see you again, and—"

"I know. But at least you and everyone else will be safe."

When Randy paused and slowly pulled away, Kuno was staring at the floor. Yes, she knew the consequences. Yes, she knew what would happen. But as long as her friends were still all right…

The robot girl looked up at her friend and smiled softly. If Randy didn't know any better, she could've been crying. "'Sacrifices must be made to save the ones you love'." I had been told that by the Nomicon a while before. At first, I thought I was the one to be sacrificed. But now, I understand its true wisdom."

"Kin, please…you can't do this. We have to find another way."

"Randy, you said it yourself. There are people suffering. And I cannot let it continue any longer."

"But _you'll_ suffer! You won't come back!"

"I am not very remembered. No one will miss me."

" _We_ will! Debbie, Theresa, Howard, _Viceroy!_ ME! _I'll_ miss you!" When tears pricked his eyes, he quickly looked to the floor to wipe them away. "We all will…"

Kuno just kept shaking her head. This was her decision. She chose this. It was for the best. Now, she took Randy and pulled him into a tight hug. The purple-haired teen sniffed and hugged back. Through the sounds of terrorization and demolition, the two friends could only think of how much they were going to miss each other. All the times they've spent, all the fights they've had…it would not be in vain.

When the robot girl pulled away, she took a fistful of the Ninja mask and just yanked it off. As the suit revealed Randy, he didn't get mad, but only stared at her curiously. Kuno was more comfortable now that she knew she was talking to her friend face-to-face. "Thank you for everything," she said, shaking slightly. "Thank you for always being there for me. Thank you for singing with me, teaching me about video games, and feeding me pizza-flavored oil. Thank you…for just being my friend. I will never forget you, Randy Cunningham. You were the best friend I have ever had."

"Kuno…" Randy started, but was cut off by another quick hug. He was too shattered to hug back this time.

The robot girl pulled away, finally letting go, as she handed him his mask and uttered a final word: _"Arigatou."_

"Still don't know what that means," the teen had to laugh. Kuno smiled. One joke was enough.

With that, they both departed.

Kuno ran right for the machine. Randy looked back, frowned, put on his mask, and climbed down the building. There was a hatch that lead to the duplicator's power system, and the robot girl crawled right in. Like most of Viceroy's inventions, there were many wires; and one of them could connect to her files. Kuno quickly unzipped her jacket and pressed her heart panel. After connecting, she felt herself restart. She searched her own folders, until she found the kill code file she used to keep for emergencies. Now, it would be put to good use.

" _Transferring: Kill Code."_

She couldn't hear much from outside. But in her perspective, it was as if the code was jolting up the antenna like lightning, struck the pod, and opened it up. She could almost hear Otto's excited little shrieks of joy as he was finally able to escape and fly back to his owner. She could just imagine Viceroy now, crying and hugging his little bot. And that made Kuno smile softly.

"Fly free, my friend," she whispered.

Now, the walls felt like they were collapsing on her. The machine was shaking, erupting in tremors that felt like they were about to explode any second. And the moment Kuno closed her eyes, she felt nothing.

All that was left was a song in her heart, and she sang it ever-so-softly:

 _Before I even knew  
_ _I ran for it, too  
_ _And with my hand in yours  
_ _You pulled me right along  
_ _Yesterday's far away  
_ _Tomorrow's just right ahead  
_ _And just that one thought  
_ _Makes me smile  
_ _And my heart begin to dance_

 _I could've sworn I heard it then  
_ _I could've sworn I truly felt it there  
_ _Is my heart shaking?  
_ _I feel it in my chest and..._

 _It's true now, I feel it here  
_ _Now a new sun brightens up the morning  
_ _It shines unlike before  
_

 _I see now, you're waiting for me  
_ _I see now, you're calling out for me  
_ _My whole soul trembles  
_ _Is this happening to me?  
_ _  
I see now, I found it here  
_ _I saw off the day, it faded from my sight  
_ _Fading like a dream  
_ _I held my head high, with a wave towards the sky,_

 _"I thank you, good-bye."_

A violent vibration jolted her eyes open. Kuno looked around. It was starting. The eruptions were about to begin.

 _Boom._

She let out a sigh.

 _Boom._

"I'll never forget…I will miss all of you…"

 _Boom._

"Randy…everyone."

 _Boom._

" _Sayonnara."_

 _BOOM._

"… _Arigatou."_

* * *

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Randy was screaming when he found that he took a wrong turn and was falling outside the building. Before he hit the ground, he snapped his scarf onto a lamp post, yelling "Ninja Scarf Swing!" and quickly landed safely.

"Everyone, evacuate!" he immediately yelled. "Leave the area! Go, go, go!"

Fortunately, they followed his command. Everyone scattered about as they hightailed away from McFist Industries. Randy looked up and heard the first _boom_. Who knew how many left until it fully exploded? Looking up, he watched as all the Ottobots stopped functioning, deactivated themselves, and started raining on the city like a metal storm. The people had no trouble dodging, and right then did Randy notice that Kuno succeeded.

 _Kuno._ Before he could tear up, he tore his eyes away from the broken roof and took off.

"Otto!" He perked up when he saw Viceroy just standing smack in the middle of the streets, holding his arms out as a certain purple robot flew right into them. The sight was very touching, as creator and invention reunited once again. The evil scientists kept muttering phrases of apologies, and Randy probably would have let him stand there to die. But everyone didn't deserve to.

 _Boom._

"Viceroy! Get moving!" he yelled, running up to him.

"Ninja!" Viceroy cried. "Where's Kuno? Why isn't she with you?"

He didn't respond to that question. What was an easier way to settle out the fact you didn't listen to what he said by "taking care"?

"She's _still there?!"_ The wild look in his eyes was rather distressing. "We have to—"

"No, you have to run with the others! It's going to blow!"

The scientist only glared at him. "How could you let her go?! Are you even her friend at all? You shouldn't have let her do this to herself!"

"Hey!" Randy shouted out, ready to lose it. "Don't say that about myself. I _tried_ , OK?! She chose this. She chose to sa—"

 _Boom._

"…Yeah, no time for anymore dramatic speeches, JUST GO!"

Viceroy was too flustered to argue.

 _Boom._

"Oh, cheese." Randy quickly looked around to make sure no one else was exposed. Soon, he joined and hid behind a sturdy house, now fully prepared for the blow.

 _Boom._

"Kuno, please."

 _BOOM._

"No."

* * *

Wisps of smoke surrounded the streets. Everyone slowly came out of hiding after the big explosion, trying to sneak a peek at what just happened. Randy coughed, and ran forward first. Once everything was cleared, they all restrained from gasping at what they were seeing.

McFist Industries was completely destroyed. All that was left were its ashes and the half-demolished houses that surrounded it. From a distance, Randy could hear McFist himself shrieking curses and collapsing onto the floor in agony. Somewhere, Viceroy was holding Otto as he cried silently. Somewhere near the school, but still pretty far from the abolished building, three certain kids mourned, for they somehow knew in their hearts a close friend was lost.

Randy, as the Ninja, stepped forward into the ashes of the now open area, and stared down at the black dust. Some of these ashes could've been Kuno's; they were now mixed with the result of her sacrifice. Though, there was one thing that survived in the middle of it all, and it was a peculiar looking object: a shuriken necklace. Randy recognized it as the one Kuno always wore, and he gingerly picked it up. No tears threatened his eyes this time as he instantly pocketed it. Since he was in the middle of the perimeter, the whole town just watched him silently, waiting for his next move. But right now, he was in no mood to do anything. Just as the crowd was in no mood to celebrate.

"… _Smokebomb."_

* * *

"I can't believe she did that," Howard sighed sadly.

"It's so sad," Theresa breathed, wiping her eyes.

Randy frowned, as he was just finished telling the story. "I know…but I also know she knew it was for the best. In the end, Kin was the hero."

It had only been a full twenty-four hours later and McFist Industries was back in business. Viceroy had apologized, McFist didn't forgive him at first, but did thirty seconds later when he needed a new robot for the next Ninja-destroying plan. Things were almost getting back to normal.

"I feel bad about still doing the concert without her, though," Randy muttered. "We wrote this first song with all three of us together."

"I'm sure Kin would have wanted you to go on without her," Theresa said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "She would've wanted all of us to move on."

"Thanks…" When he looked at her, he had to smile.

"Besides, we've been working on this for three months," Howard cut in. "So if you try to back out, you're a shoob." He paused, and quickly added, "Not that I'd not want Kin out of this but…" When he realized he was struggling, he gave up and said, "I'm going to miss her."

"I'm going to miss her too," Theresa said softly. "I feel bad I didn't get to know her all that well…"

"Hey," Randy piped up, forcing a smile. "I don't think you needed to. Kuno had a heart of gold. She was kind enough, and we all saw it. She tried reaching out to most of us, even if we didn't see it. In the end, we reached out to her. In the end, she was still good. Just as long as we remember the robot she is...she'll be _biologically_ with us."

"That's too deep, Cunningham," Howard sighed again, shaking his head. "So, uh, we have about a thousand Norrisville Highs students out there waiting for us? Not to sound like I don't care about Kin – I do—I mean I don't – uh, but, um, yeah…" He needed to stop talking.

Randy had to chuckle. "Yeah…let's go."

"Good luck, guys," Theresa said. "You especially, Randy."

The purple-haired boy blushed when she gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

As Theresa left, the boys now paid attention to the cheering students outside the stage. They pulled back some of the curtains to get a quick peek and saw the many people waiting to hear them perform. This was it. This was their night.

"Kin would have loved this," Randy murmured.

Howard placed a hand on his shoulder, as Theresa did. "Maybe someday we'll meet her again."

"She's not a human, Howard, she literally has no soul."

"But she's a robot! She can just be rebuilt again! Right?"

"…Well, maybe…" He honestly wasn't so sure.

"Let's move on. Focus on the here and the now. Kin would've wanted that."

"…Yeah…she probably would have." In the crowd, Theresa had made it to her seat with Debbie Kang. He gave a little wave, and the girl blushed and waved right back.

"Before we go on, good luck and all that, but what exactly were Kin's last words?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Can't a man be curious."

"Well she definitely didn't mention you."

"Ow."

"Kidding. She said, _'Arigatou'"_

"Still have no idea what that means."

"I do now." Randy stared down at his keytar, not helping the small smile that was forming on his face. Howard noticed, and he grinned as well.

"All right! Let's get this party started!"

Without warning, he burst out from behind the stage curtains, and everyone screamed out when he appeared. It was almost obvious to see how he was restraining himself from ripping his shirt off.

Randy inwardly laughed and smiled again. He reached into his pocket nervously and suddenly pulled out a certain object. It was Kuno's shuriken necklace. The one thing he could ever remember her by. Even still though, as he tightened his fist around it, he couldn't help but silently nod at one of her final words.

 _I'll never forget you, Randy Cunningham. You were the best friend I ever had._

" _Arigatou."_

"You're welcome, Kin," he mumbled. "Thank you too."

With that said, he threw himself out to the screaming fans, and was proudly smiling as he held his keytar. He couldn't have appeared more confident.

" _WHAT UP, NORRISVILLE HIGH!"_

 _What the HEY  
_ _Come on YOU  
_ _What the JUICE  
_ _He's so BRUCE  
_ _That's the CHEESE  
_ _Ninja, PLEASE  
_ _Ninja, ROCK  
_ _DON'T STOP!"_

 _What the HEY  
_ _Come on YOU  
_ _Do it NINJA  
_ _WHAT THE JUICE  
_ _He's a NINJA  
_ _Come on FIGHTER  
_ _Just a FRESHMAN  
_ _He's a  
_ _NINJA!"_

 _~The End~_

* * *

 **FINALLY I'M DONE WITH THIS**

 **WOOOOOO ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL FANFIC OVER. ANOTHER STEP CLOSER TO MY DREAM.**

 **Super hope you guys loved this fic. There were some that stuck by until the very end and some that didn't. But that's OK. Just as long as I know you enjoyed, that brings me enough satisfaction. Though I do hope I will get more reviewers and favorites, having enough readers would still be fine as well :)**

 **I'm actually in a hurry because it's 1:00am and I should be sleeping. I literally spent six hours writing this chapter 'cause I was too distracted watching my cartoons to finish it quickly. Now, as I update the final chapter, I'll be going now.**

 **This may be the last time I'll write another RC:9GN fanfic. I dunno. I usually don't write the same thing thrice. But who knows? Maybe the third season (if there would be one) will give me inspiration ;) I hope to see some of you readers in my future works!**

 **As I say at the end of every fic, I'm never going to stop writing :)**

 **Signing off for now ^^ -Ridaa**


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